


Counting Down to You

by KrystalM



Series: Counting Down!Verse [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Seduction, Eventual Hiro Hamada/Tadashi Hamada, Famous, Fluff and Humor, Hiro Hamada & Tadashi Hamada are Not Related, Humor, Implied Hiro Hamada/Tadashi Hamada, M/M, Older Hiro, Romance, Seduction, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-03-21 05:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 65,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3680208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrystalM/pseuds/KrystalM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro Hamada and Tadashi Hamada, they're both smart, both have gotten multiple awards for their inventions and discoveries and both had discovered enough theories to start a world revolution. Now, they're neighbours! Too bad Hiro hates Tadashi's guts. To Hiro, Tadashi was just this irritating person born in this world to make Hiro's life a miserable place, especially when the media takes in humour on making them related even though they have no familial ties what-so-ever. </p><p>Things takes a humourous, fluffy and confusing turn for Hiro when Tadashi announces that he actually is attracted and likes Hiro and will do anything in his power to seduce him before the end of Valentine's Day which was two weeks away. And Hiro is confident that he won't fall for him no matter what he does. Yeap--no matter what he does, Hiro will not fall in love with him. <em>Ever</em>. </p><p>[Hiro/Tadashi slash. Not related, therefore, no incest~]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine! 
> 
> Warning: This is really Hiro/Tadashi slash. No, they are not related so there's no incest going on here~ Anyways, no hate, man. No like, no read. Done that, move on with the story!
> 
> Catch me here too!
> 
> [Wattpad](http://www.wattpad.com/user/KrystalM) | [FFNet ](http://www.fanfiction.net/~xokrystalmox) | [GoodReads](https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/42035367-krystal-m) | [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/) | [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)

 

 

_Hiro Hamada—teen genius discovered new Physics Law!_

 

Snorting, he sighed as he read through the news on his tablet. It had only been yesterday night since he had declared the new law he discovered and now it was the front page news. He could already imagine the multiple calls he would receive from various television stations asking for an interview. He could already picture the magazine companies trying to stalk him down just to get him to cover for the next issue. He was also going to have to attend more award ceremonies dedicated for his discoveries and then, of course, there were going to be fan mails.

 

He couldn’t help it as a grin stretched on his face.

 

He was nineteen and he was already making great progress for himself and for the world. Graduated from San Fransokyo Institute of Technology when he was seventeen, already discovering his first theory along the way and now, he had done it again. He looked around from his tablet, sighing as he caught a picture frame hanging on the living room wall. The big luxurious apartment he had bought in the middle of San Fransokyo city wasn’t essentially his plan but somehow, as his fame increased, so did the number of stalkers and paparazzi. At the end, it threatened to destroy his aunt’s privacy. So, he moved out—even though he sorely didn’t want to.

 

He wondered for a moment how Cass was doing. He sighed once more before grabbing onto his smartphone. He pressed onto her number before he placed the phone against his ear, listening to the annoying ring before she picked up.

 

“Hiro?” she called out, her voice sounding slightly tired but still happy to hear from him. Hiro smiled softly to himself as he heard her voice.

 

“Yeah, hi, Aunt Cass,” he said as she chuckled.

 

“God, Hiro,” she said after a moment. “You did it again, huh?” A sense of pride washed through her tone as Hiro chuckled this time. He felt his cheeks reddening a bit when he heard the clear happiness projecting through this line even though she was on the other side of the city.

 

“I try, Aunt Cass,” he said cheekily as she laughed heartily.

 

“You sure do,” she said. “I just miss you, Hiro.”

 

“I know,” he said. After a beat he added, “I miss you too. How are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “It’s only been three days since we’ve last talked, Hiro. Nothing’s gone wrong with me in the meantime,” she continued after a moment, her voice sounded teasing. Hiro rolled his eyes as he sighed.

 

“Hey, I’m just a concerned family member,” he said, feigning hurt in his voice. His aunt just hummed out a response when a clatter from the background had him sitting straight.

 

“I’m sorry!” his aunt said to the background before she spoke up to Hiro. “Hiro, dear, I have to go. The café is really busy today.”

 

“Huh,” Hiro said, relaxing a bit. “Alright. I’ll talk to you later then.”

 

A few seconds of silence washed in between before Cass sighed from the other side. “I love you, Hiro. Take care, okay?”

 

“Alright,” Hiro said casually even though his heart constricted a bit from the familiarity. “I love you too, Aunt Cass. Take care as well.”

 

“Goodbye, Hiro. Talk to you later.”

 

Hiro didn’t want to say goodbye. He hesitated a moment before he replied, “Bye.” With that, he took down his phone and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned against the couch and placed the tablet next to him. He hadn’t seen his aunt’s face for almost a month. He was very busy nowadays and he really missed her. He closed his eyes shut as he felt a throbbing pain in his head. Leaning his head comfortably against the couch, he sighed loudly once more. He had just gotten up from his bed after having a restless sleep.

 

After having confirmed his new theory, they made an official ceremony last night before the public got to know about it. His agent decided that it would be great for publicity if he managed to stay back until the final hours, just to get a good picture in the news. And when he went back home, he couldn’t help but to feel slightly distasteful of the apartment. It was lonely looking, cold and clammy inside. He never liked the loneliness.

 

His parents died when he was young, leaving him to his aunt. He never had any other siblings to grow up with. So, he cornered himself in his room ever since their deaths as he learned new things that were too advanced for kids his age to understand. After that, his life moved forward too fast as he graduated from high school before fourteen and ended up in his university when he was fifteen under Robotics major.

 

There, he had met new friends and he was grateful that they accepted him for him. He opened his eyes as his sight caught onto the ceiling. It was bleached white and for a moment it made Hiro felt lifeless. He was nineteen and he still hadn’t found someone who really understood him from inside.

 

Sure, his friends liked him—in fact, they treated him like a younger brother and for a while, while they were around him, he would feel complete. But they were never permanent. Cass made him feel supported but she didn’t make him feel—feel  _safe_. Safe, as if in the sense where he could just let all the hurt and pain known and even though it would make him look vulnerable, that person would accept it all and keep it like some treasure.

 

He sighed for the umpteenth time as he felt the dark shadows of loneliness showering his inner mind. All this success, all this money and fame, it didn’t help him get what he needed the most. He needed someone to sit next to him and just be there for him. His tablet made a slight ding indicating he got a mail. Hiro groaned a bit under his breath before he grabbed the tablet and looked at it.

 

Just as he figured, the mail had a red mark on it indicating he had an unread mail. Pressing on it, the mail app opened and the unread mail covered the screen. He pressed on the unread mail and read it only for him to shake his head in exhaustion. It was a ceremony invitation for his achievement in this year’s National Young Scientist Awards. He looked down to see he was nominated for the Best Achievement of the Year. Scrolling down, he saw the names of other nominees.

 

Besides his name, his eyes scrolled down to the names that he barely heard of to the names that he had heard enough times for him to recognise just who it was. Just then, his eyes landed on one particular name. His eyebrows scrunched deep in the middle before he sat up straighter. His shoulders became tense as a frown made way on his lips.

 

The name had caused some bubbly acid forming inside of his chest. He felt the irritation boiling through his veins and he couldn’t help but to feel the pain at the back of his head intensifying. “ _Great_ ,” he muttered darkly under his breath as he threw the tablet on the couch next to him and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

 

 _Tadashi Hamada_.

 

The name itself sent some dark thoughts swirling into his mind. He had to endure that person’s face soon and he really wanted nothing more than to just go blind than to see his face again. Tadashi Hamada was his sworn rival since all of this started. He hated that man’s carefree smile and the bubbly attitude in front of an audience. Hiro especially hated how he would race against him to get to a certain theory or discovery first. That stupid smug look on his face when he did get to it first would always make the young genius grit his teeth.

 

It all started a few years back when he was attending the same course in the same year as Tadashi was. Tadashi had managed to take everyone off guard with his first discovery when he realised that some basic robotics laws were wrong. Hiro had watched with fascination at first, already idolising the taller man from behind the screen. But that idolisation drowned to the bottom of the glass when Hiro had his very first discovery only for Tadashi to prove him otherwise at the end of the semester.

 

He saw the smugness on the man’s face when he approached Hiro one day, a smile on his face that looked sincere but Hiro doubted it was anything but. He had said to Hiro that it was alright and he shouldn’t be down because of it. The young genius had taken offense of that as he shot back saying he would discover something greater than Tadashi did.

 

Tadashi just smiled, shrugging at the boy before he leaned in close and said, “Well,  _can’t wait_.”

 

With that, a silent battle had begun between them. So far, Tadashi had been winning and Hiro knew that Tadashi had also more experience in life since he was older than Hiro by a few years. However, that didn’t put the fire out between them. Hiro had finally managed to discover a new law by accident and before he graduated from the institute, he was already famous for his discovery. Tadashi had congratulated him but Hiro knew that there was some new found determination behind his words.

 

And it was proven true when after a year later, Tadashi had been awarded as one of the best achiever in the Young Scientist Association. Hiro lost that award even though he was nominated that year. He was sure that Tadashi’s eyes twinkled when he caught Hiro’s eyes from across the room.

 

It was official, Hiro  _hated_  him.

 

Maybe it was jealousy or maybe he envied that the man could be so cheerful, so himself and yet he had it all. He even had great friends and a girlfriend, the last time he read the news about him. Her name was Honey and Hiro didn’t know what was funnier, the fact that her last name was Lemon or the fact that she seemed to be a huge roll of rainbow.

 

He was secretly jealous after all.

 

And then, to add more pain in his life, he had to move out of his aunt’s house. He had felt dreadfully lonely as he moved into this apartment. His agent had set it all up realising it would keep him safe and sound from stalkers and unwanted attention from the media. Then, he had to find out that his neighbour was none other than Tadashi Hamada.

 

And there was another problem.

 

The  _Hamada_  part. It turned out Tadashi also had the same last name and they were always called the ‘ _Hamadas: Secret Brothers_ ’ or if the media was trying to get on his nerves, they would dub them simply as ‘ _The Hamadas_ ’.  _Right_ , he snorted in his mid-thought. The ‘ _Hamadas’_. Hiro definitely didn’t want to have any familial or in fact any relation with that man.

 

And he despised how the universe loved to keep him alerted.

 

His neighbour was Tadashi.

 

And he hated him.

 

 _How lucky was he_?

 

 

* * *

 

 

After taking a bath and shoving down two slices of toast with butter on them into his mouth, he took his bag and his sunglasses which were lying on his bed. He decided to head to the institute where he was graduated to carry on his research and experiments. The SFIT granted him his own lab when he was declared as one of the dean students with great achievements. They wanted to keep him here and Hiro well, he didn’t decline. As much as Cass’s garage made into a fine lab, he still liked the four walls that covered his experiments well.

 

He sighed as he wore the glasses against his face and walked to the door. Wearing his sneakers, he opened the door and walked out, immediately greeted by the silent corridor. He shivered gently at how lonely it felt and for a moment, he almost drowned at how quiet his life was. Shaking his thoughts away, he locked his door and keyed in his security code. A short click was heard indicating the alarm was armed.

 

Smiling at that, his eyes drifted off to the door next to his a few centimetres away. Written in silver and planted at the door, the words _Tadashi Hamada_ were perched there. Hiro felt the tingling annoyance lingering at the back of his mind before he rolled his eyes and turned around. Adjusting his bag over his shoulder, he decided to take a few steps forward.

 

He suddenly heard a door being opened and closed before the shuffling noise covered the hallway. Hiro didn’t turn around to see who it was, too lazy to actually care. He then walked to the elevator and pressed on the down button. Finally the shuffling noise stopped next to him. Silence covered the hallway before the slight ding of the elevator caught his attention. The metallic door opened before Hiro walked in immediately. The man followed in as well as Hiro pressed down the ground button. The door soon shut closed with a squeak before the elevator music started chiming.

 

“Hey,” the man said before Hiro looked at him. Seconds ticked on as Hiro stared at him before he narrowed his eyes and looked away.  _Great_ , this was just what he needed. Hiro shuffled from one foot to the other, already eager to get out from sharing the same space with this man.

 

“Hi,” was Hiro’s curt reply. A short chuckle escaped from the man’s lips and Hiro had to string every last ounce of self-control from glaring at him.  _It wasn’t worth it_ , he reminded himself.

 

“I saw the news this morning,” the man continued as if Hiro wasn’t emitting some dark aura around him. “Congratulations by the way.”

 

“Thanks,” Hiro shortly replied as he avoided looking at the man. But it was futile as he caught the man’s expression from the metallic door’s reflection. He growled silently when he saw how amused the man looked. Hiro tried to keep himself calmed down but all he got was another short chuckle. Snapping his gaze at him, he frowned deeply at the man. “What’s with that look, huh? You got a problem with me already?”

 

The man looked at him for a moment before he grinned. “Nope,” he said casually. “Hiro,” he started at the same time as the elevator door dinged opened. Hiro didn’t listen to him as he tightened his grip on his bag and strode out. His mood was slowly worsening by the second but the man didn’t seem to notice or he simply didn’t care. He followed Hiro out and walked next to him, continuing as if he didn’t get interrupted. “I’m just congratulating you. No need to take offence.”

 

Hiro immediately stopped walking and turned around to meet the brown eyes which were clearly filled with amusement. Hiro frowned deeper as he stood in front of the taller man. “I don’t  _need_  your congratulations,  _Tadashi_ ,” he sneered out his name. Tadashi just raised an eyebrow, a smirk making way on his lips.

 

“Someone’s getting cocky,” he sing-sung. “I’m just congratulating you, honest.” His innocent look didn’t charm Hiro. He narrowed his eyes at Tadashi before he scoffed.

 

“Right, and I’m the Queen of England,” he said sarcastically. “Who’re you trying to kid, huh? You’re up to something and don’t you think for a minute there that that innocent look is working on me.”

 

“Up to something, huh?” he questioned as he took a step forward, his eyes now expressing something more playful. Hiro had to take a step back when he realised that Tadashi was too close, breaching into his personal space all of a sudden. A sudden twisted smile made way on the taller man’s lips before he chuckled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyways, I have an interview to get to. See you soon, neighbour.” With that, Tadashi winked at him and he walked away, leaving Hiro to watch his retreating back. Hiro growled under his breath as he took in a deep breath. Tadashi was always like this. It was as if he was sincere one moment but the next second, he would pull some new invention under his sleeve and just like that, the world was in his hands again.

 

Hiro knew that he was up to something. It was always like this. Tadashi would congratulate him but then, after a short while, he would invent something or discover something worth praising for. Hiro hated how things went along his way and everything he did somehow mocked Hiro.

 

The young scientist just hated him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, come on, Hiro,” Wasabi said as Hiro marched into his lab, already complaining about this morning’s encounter with Tadashi. “He’s a nice guy.”

 

“Nice guy?” Hiro questioned as he placed his bag on his working table and sat down on his chair, sighing loudly as he looked at his best friend. “No, he’s not. He’s annoying and just plain infuriating! He’s all like ‘Hey, congratulations’ but really, he’s saying ‘Don’t get too comfortable. I’ll beat your ass soon’. Wasabi, I’m telling you that guy’s a snake!”

 

“And you call _me_ paranoid,” Wasabi muttered under his breath. Hiro glared at him for a moment before he shook his head. “Hiro, man, don’t you think maybe you’re too caught up with him?” Hiro frowned at Wasabi before he narrowed his eyes.

 

“What does that supposed to mean?” he asked. “Too caught up? It’s not me who started this war!”

 

“What war?” Gogo entered, the door swishing close behind her as she raised an eyebrow at both of them.

 

“Tadashi,” Wasabi said in one word and Gogo’s face dawned in realisation.

 

“Oh, Hiro’s obsession with him,” Gogo said as Hiro growled at her.

 

“It’s not obsession, Gogo!” Hiro exclaimed as he got up from his chair and started to pace around his lab. “You guys don’t get it. He’s infuriating! And not to mention that everything goes his way and he just gloats it around me!”

 

“I just don’t get it,” Wasabi said as he eyed at the young genius for a while. “So what? Just beat him with some new inventions or something.”

 

“Hiro,” Gogo started as she cracked a smile at him. “Just don’t let him get to you.”

 

Hiro sighed loudly as he nodded knowing that somehow, his friends didn’t really agree to what he was saying. How could they anyway? They never knew Tadashi like he did. They didn’t get to see all the emotions evoking on that man’s face whenever he made Hiro mad and annoyed inside. It was like a game for him, to make Hiro’s life a miserable place. He doesn’t get it himself sometimes why he got so mad or annoyed but then again, Tadashi’s face itself was so sickening to see so he guessed that was one of the reasons why.

 

“Right, whatever,” Hiro finally gave up as he walked to his table and looked at his work for a moment.

 

“Though, he lives next door to you, right?” Gogo asked as Hiro hummed out a response, already engrossed in his work and forgetting everything about that man in an instant. “The news reported his girlfriend will be in the city to visit him two weeks from now.”

 

“On Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?” Wasabi asked as Hiro snapped back to reality and turned around to look at his friends. He raised his eyebrows at that before he sighed, crossing his arms against his chest and leaning against the table.

 

“Great,” Hiro muttered. “Just what I need. His annoying girlfriend too, living next door to me. Seriously, sometimes I wish that I could just move out of there.”

 

“I somehow doubt that,” Gogo teased. “You’d miss all of his annoying bits and your life will be dull again.”

 

“I don’t think so, Gogo,” Hiro shot back, rolling his eyes at her. “I’ll be in a happier place as long as he isn’t there.”

 

Wasabi just chuckled at that. “So,” he said, changing the subject. “Anyone special for Valentine’s Day?”

 

“ _Special_?” Hiro asked as he looked at Wasabi. “You mean like a girlfriend?”

 

“Or a boyfriend,” Gogo added as Hiro shot her a dark look. She just shrugged, looking innocent. “Yeah, it’s in another two weeks.”

 

“No,” Hiro said. “I’m not—you know. I don’t have time for all of that. I’ll just visit Aunt Cass or something.”

 

“Isn’t your aunt dating that doctor, Teo?” Gogo asked as Hiro grimaced at that. He had completely forgotten about her— _boyfriend_. That word itself sent shivers down his spine. The first time he had met Teo, it was during last year’s Christmas. It was awkward as hell mainly because Hiro didn’t know what to talk about with his aunt’s boyfriend. Slowly, he warmed up to the doctor but still, whenever he accidentally walked into them going through some PDA, Hiro would count the scars in his life.

 

“Yeah, him,” Hiro said as he tried to remove the gross thoughts from his mind.

 

“So, she’s got to have a date with him, Hiro,” Wasabi said with a grin.

 

Hiro just sighed once more before looking at his friends. “Then, I’ll just hang out with you guys.”

 

Wasabi immediately cleared his throat as he avoided his friend’s gaze. “I—I uh, got an appointment.”

 

“I have work,” Gogo added next to Wasabi as Hiro narrowed his eyes at them.

 

“Am I  _that_  undesirable?” he asked as Wasabi just grinned out and shook his head.

 

“Just get a date, man,” Wasabi said as Hiro looked away from him. “You didn’t have one love interest since all of this started. You’re basically nineteen and single— _forever_  single.”

 

“I’m just,” Hiro started as Gogo walked up to him and clasped his shoulders.

 

“It’s time to find someone, Hiro,” she said softly. “Don’t you want to experience what it’s like to be in a relationship?”

 

“Of course I do!” Hiro exclaimed as he pushed her away. “But I just don’t have the time. I can always love whenever I want.”

 

“Right, like that’s how feelings work,” Wasabi snorted as Hiro rolled his eyes once more before turning around and looking back at his experiments. “Well, it’s your life, man. We just want you to find someone you can love.”

 

“And I will,” Hiro said slowly, even though he found himself trying hard to believe his own words. “ _Later_.”

 

With that, the discussion was dropped. Gogo and Wasabi then excused themselves and walked out of his lab, leaving Hiro immersed in his thoughts.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He walked back to his apartment, his stomach grumbling a bit and his eyes filled with tiredness. It had been a long day today and his agent dropped by a few times to get his schedule for this month straightened out. By the time everything else ended today, it was almost nine in the evening. He sighed softly to himself as he finally made it to his door. Opening it up, he walked inside and closed the door shut. He wanted nothing more than to drown in his bed even though his stomach was yelling at him to eat something.

 

Just as he took a few steps forward, the doorbell to his house chimed. He groaned under his breath, tempted to just ignore it when the doorbell rang again. He turned around and headed to the door once more, opening it up widely ready to curse at whomever it was on the other side when his eyes landed on Tadashi. He was wearing his black shirt and loose pants, looking relaxed and homely. His brown eyes met Hiro’s and for a while, they did nothing but stare at each other.

 

“ _What_  do you  _want_?” Hiro questioned finally, straightening himself up with a frown on his lips. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. Tadashi just looked at him for a moment before he smiled, warmth somehow radiating from his lips. Hiro raised his eyebrows at him before shaking that singular thought away. He was that tired, wasn’t he? So tired until he was hallucinating that Tadashi was smiling at him warmly, wasn’t he? He could nearly laugh out loud at the absurdity and yet, somehow, he savoured it.

 

That contradicting emotion confused him for a moment before Tadashi broke his thoughts. “I just wanted to apologise.”

 

“ _Huh_?” Hiro asked, his eyebrows furrowing deep before he sighed. “Look, I’m exhausted from today and I want nothing more than to sleep. So, could you not make me anymore irritated with your confusing demeanour and just get to the  _point_?”

 

Tadashi didn’t seem to take offence to that and instead he said, “Can you spare me ten minutes of your time and maybe somewhere more private? Not the hallway where everybody can hear us?”

 

Hiro wanted nothing more than to shut the door right at his face but he decided that if he complied with the demands, maybe Tadashi would leave him alone for the rest of the night. With that, he begrudgingly opened the door wider and stepped aside as an invite. Tadashi didn’t waste the opportunity and walked in, his shoulder relaxed as he walked to the living room.

 

Hiro closed the door and followed Tadashi. He shuffled to his feet for a moment before he looked at his kitchen. Should he offer him something to drink? Should he offer him a seat? His nemesis was in the same living space as he was and he was trying to figure out what was going on. Was he supposed to act natural around him or just get him to spit the words out?

 

Tadashi however, didn’t make Hiro get any more confused and turned around, looking at the shorter boy with a smile. “Right, I just want to say I’m sorry.”

 

“Yeah, I got that,” Hiro said coldly. After a beat, he felt the guilt tripping through him and he sighed. He rubbed his eyes with his index and thumb fingers before he looked at Tadashi once more. “Sorry. I just—could you please just get to the point?”

 

“Yeah, I’m,” Tadashi started before he took a step forward. Hiro raised an eyebrow at his sudden change of distance but decided to stand rooted to the ground. “I didn’t mean to make you get irritated this morning. I really was just congratulating you.”

 

Hiro looked at the man for a moment before scoffing. “Ya, and like I said, I’m the Queen of England. Is that all?” Hiro snapped as he looked at the door pointedly before looking back at Tadashi. A loud sigh escaped from the taller man’s lips before he looked at Hiro.

 

“Look,” he said. “I never meant for you to get irritated with me. In fact, it wasn’t my intention to be all ‘hate-hate’ on you, alright. I don’t see why you don’t like me.”

 

 _Oh_.

 

So that was what all of this was about.

The Hiro disliking him part was the issue. A grim smile made way on the young genius’s lips as he chuckled dryly. Of course Tadashi couldn’t accept that there was someone in this big fat hypocritical world who didn’t like him. Hiro felt queasy at that and he felt anger washing into him. Why was it so important that everybody liked Tadashi? What was so perfect about his stupid little life anyway?

 

Hiro felt bitter when he realised that he could actually list out ten thousand reasons as to why people would prefer Tadashi than him. Even though he never really experienced a situation where someone was forced to pick between Tadashi and him, Hiro was sure though that if the situation did arise, Tadashi was the one to be picked. Hiro, no matter what he had, just wouldn’t be good enough.

 

He had  _never_  been good enough for anybody.

 

Nobody gave him a chance to let his real self be known. He couldn’t pin point exactly at which point of his life that had Hiro realising that the world was actually a dark place, but he was certain it was after losing both of his parents. Someone like Tadashi, who had everything in his hands, wouldn’t understand. Losing someone he needed most in his life, how would Tadashi know of this feeling anyway?

 

Everybody liked him.

 

Even before Hiro met Tadashi, he had heard of him through whispers from people who came by to the café and sometimes, he would read it in the news. Tadashi’s life was something like a golden apple—a precious rare thing that everybody wanted. Hiro was no exception.

 

So, yeah, he felt bitter.

 

He wanted Tadashi’s life.

 

He wanted every ounce of happiness he had.

 

Hiro had his share of happiness, he couldn’t deny. He had his aunt and his friends. But sometimes, he needed more. He didn’t know if he was selfish but he wanted—no— _craved_  for attention. Ignoring all the false attention he was receiving at the moment, he wanted an attention that would settle deep into his life and make him realise that he wasn’t alone.

 

He couldn’t be alone.

 

Right now, he didn’t have that and he was sure, Tadashi had it.

 

That was why he was bitter.

 

“Don’t like you?” Hiro questioned as he met the man’s eyes. “You’re saying you don’t get why I dislike you?”

 

Tadashi just shrugged, confusion filled his eyes for a moment. “Yes, Hiro. I don’t understand what I did to make you hate me. Sure, we’re rivals, it’s fun but I don’t see why you hate me behind the scenes.”

 

“I  _hate_  you, Tadashi,” Hiro sneered. “And I don’t see why  _you_  can’t leave it at that. Is that why you’re here? To ask me why I hate you? Why I dislike you? Why now after all these years, huh? Can’t handle seeing someone hate you?”

 

Tadashi frowned as he took another step forward, his shoulders tensed and rigid. “I just don’t get you, Hiro. When I first saw you, I thought you were brilliant. I thought that I finally met my match and then—you suddenly turn away and now you hate me without basis. What did I  _ever_  do to you?”

 

Hiro took in some time to get the words to settle in his mind before he chuckled again, this time sounding forced. “ _Brilliant_? Tadashi, I don’t need you to say that to me,” Hiro cooed sarcastically. Some parts of him yelled at him to stop. He was being arrogant and that wasn’t him but he couldn’t do stop it. He wanted to mock at him, mock with everything he got in his life and try to make do as if he had everything that Tadashi didn’t. If just for once, it would show him that he was fine.

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi started. “I really tried to approach you from every angle I knew.”

 

“I don’t see why we’re having this conversation, Tadashi,” Hiro finally said, as his mind closed off from the conversation. His shoulder sagged tiredly and his mind went hazy. He didn’t understand this motive—his motive at the moment. Why was Tadashi here? “Why after all these years? I can’t even hate you in peace?”

 

“Because it took me all these years to figure something about you that intrigued me,” Tadashi confessed. Hiro looked at him quietly as the sentence settled deep into his mind.

 

“Intrigue you?” Hiro asked. “What does that—”

 

“You have a charm that you don’t know of,” Tadashi cut him off with a smile. “And that charm actually attracts everyone who looks at you.” After a beat he added, “ _Including_   _me_.”

 

Hiro’s world screeched to a stop. The young scientist blinked for a few seconds before he looked at the man in front of him. “ _Excuse_   _me_?” he said. “What the  _hell_  are you talking about? Are you drunk?” Hiro asked as he waved his arms around. Panic suddenly surged deep into his mind alongside with confusion. “Tadashi, what are you saying?”

 

 _A charm_?  _Attracted_?  _Tadashi—what_?

 

Hiro’s mind started dancing around the conversation as he narrowed his eyes at him. A sudden realisation dawned on him. “Is  _this_  it? You’re going to scoop  _that_  low?”

 

Tadashi raised his eyebrows at him. “What?”

 

“You’re using these cheesy lines to pick me up and make me fall for you so you can throw me off my game, aren’t you? God, Tadashi! Who knew you had it in you, huh? You almost had me,” Hiro said as he laughed humourlessly. “Now, if you’re done irritating me.  _Leave_.”

 

Tadashi immediately took a few steps forward and crowded Hiro’s personal space. Hiro’s eyes widened as he looked at the man. “Hiro,” he started. “I’m not playing around. I really am attracted to you.”

 

Hiro took a step back at the blunt words. “Stop saying that!” he exclaimed. “I hate you and you hate me, remember? Rivals forever? Hello, did someone switch your brain or something?”

 

Tadashi just sighed before a smirk made way on his lips, his eyes twinkled in something akin to irritation. “I’m perfectly me and I never said I hated you, Hiro. You concluded that yourself. As far as I’m concerned, I was intrigued by you and before I knew it, I like you.”

 

Hiro was baffled at the words. He couldn’t believe that this was happening. “Liar,” Hiro said, sounding like some high-strung teenager. “Whatever, bring your twisted game and get the hell out of here, Tadashi. I really had enough of you today.”

 

“Alright, fine, I’ll leave but,” Tadashi said, looking at Hiro in the eyes. “Before that, let’s make a bet, okay?”

 

“A bet?” Hiro asked, his interest picking up as Tadashi’s eyes twinkled once more in something a little less irritated. He didn’t know what this man was planning at the moment but he was sure—he wasn’t going to be a fool and just accept it.

 

“Yeah,” he said as he casually leaned away from Hiro. “I’ll seduce you and make you fall for me.”

 

Hiro felt his world screeching to a stop once more. He didn’t know if he was hearing things right. Maybe he was too sleepy after all. He sighed loudly as he felt his cheeks reddening and his heart picking up speed. He didn’t know why he was feeling squeamish but he was. He shuffled his feet before he took another step back, just for the sake of his personal space. Tadashi’s smirk widened at Hiro’s nervousness as the young scientist cleared his throat.

 

What was this man playing at?

 

Did he really think he could suddenly jump into this from nowhere?

 

“Yeah  _right_ ,” Hiro sneered, trying to sound confident. “Like I would fall for someone like you. Just looking at you makes me irritated. Seriously Tadashi, if this is one of your tactics to throw me off—”

 

“It’s  _not_ ,” he said.

 

“Then why now?” Hiro asked. “Why now? I just don’t understand what goes on in your mind.”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Tadashi said as his eyes clouded with mischief. “Why now you ask?” He shrugged casually but his eyes still managed to twinkle in that mischief. “I just came in terms with my feelings. So, like I said, I like you and am attracted to you.”

 

Hiro didn’t even ponder on what he said before he frowned. “Yeah, never going to happen, Tadashi. I can list you a lot of reasons to why this won’t work but one of them is because I don’t swing that way. I’m straight and I hate you, in case you forgot.”

 

“Like I said, I’ll seduce you,” Tadashi said easily making Hiro to growl at him even though his cheeks were reddening. “Let’s keep a time frame, alright? Until Valentine’s Day. I’ll have you loving me by Valentine’s day.”

 

“Isn’t that two weeks away?” Hiro questioned, his eyes narrowed. “You think you can make me fall for someone like you in just two weeks?”

 

“Including Valentine’s Day,” Tadashi said. “So, fifteen days. I’ll have you falling for me in fifteen days.”

 

“And if I don’t?” Hiro asked, sounding confident. Tadashi just smiled, his lips quirking in a manner of pure confidence himself.

 

“If I don’t, we never spoke of this and you can just keep on hating me. I’ll give you up,” Tadashi said. “But I doubt that’ll ever come.”

 

“You’re pretty confident, Tadashi,” Hiro sneered as he took a step forward to the man. “That’s why it won’t work.”

 

“We’ll see, Hiro,” Tadashi said as he chuckled. With that he did something unexpected and took a step forward. Before Hiro could comprehend what in the world he was doing, he leaned in and kissed his cheek. Tadashi then winked at Hiro and walked away, leaving Hiro stunned at where he stood.

 

Hiro felt the short warmness from the man’s lips sinking into his skin from where he was touched. His eyes were wide and confusion wormed into his heart. Looking at the closed door, he felt the irritation boiling into his mind and growled. He quickly wiped his cheek harshly and shook his mind from the thoughts.

 

Did Tadashi really think he would win this?

 

He liked Hiro?

 

That sounded absurd even for Hiro. Tadashi was his rival and Hiro was sure that he was doing this just to get even for once again throttling on Tadashi’s fame. He was going to make Hiro confused so badly that his work was going to suffer. He wouldn’t let Tadashi win.

 

Let that man try.

 

Hiro stormed to his bedroom afterwards and slumped on his bed. His hunger already diminishing inside and his heavy feelings settling deep in his chest. Tadashi had looked so serious and confident about his challenge and it made Hiro angry a bit. How dare Tadashi assume that Hiro would immediately fall for him like some maiden?

 

And besides, didn’t he have a girlfriend?

 

Hiro smirked at that, somehow realising that maybe this was just his plan after all.

 

Make Hiro so confused that he couldn’t even think straight and before he knew it, Hiro’s career would be suffering. Hiro made up his mind as he finally concluded his thinking. Hiro swore in his heart that he wouldn’t let Tadashi win.

 

No, Hiro, he wasn’t going to fall in love with Tadashi.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back with a new idea. I just had this idea floating in my head for a while now and decided, why not? I just needed them to be in some slashy way without being related and this sounds good, no? I hope this first chapter made sense. I think I did a bad job towards the end, like, I hope you guys aren't like '...what the hell? Where did that come from!' I hope. Anyways, do let me know if you guys want me to continue or not. Hey, what's the point in posting stories nobody likes, right? And ya, well! Until next chappie (if wanted~) -Krystal
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> **Edited on: 9/5/2015**
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> Basic CSS provided by museaway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine!
> 
>  _I tend to shut people out, I like my space, yeah, But I’d love to have a soul mate, God will give him to me someday_ – Dear No One (Tori Kelly)

_Ding!_

 

_Ding!_

 

_Ding!_

 

_Knock! Knock!_

 

“God, who the hell?” Hiro grumbled under his breath as he opened his eyes slowly, the fuzziness taking over for a moment. He sighed loudly as he felt the morning dizziness clouding his mind. Everything didn’t make sense for a while before he felt the cold temperature settling deep into his skin. He listened to his surrounding for a moment, trying to pin point exactly what had woken him up. But after a few seconds, he didn’t hear anything that could’ve done so.

 

Huh, maybe it was his imagination.

 

He let his eyes fluttered close and the sharp silence had dragged him back to a shallow dream until—

 

_Ding!_

 

Grumbling once more, Hiro opened his eyes wide and looked at his alarm clock only to scowl when he read the time blinking in red.  _7:30_ , it blinked at him innocently. He sat up and sighed loudly as he felt the muscles around his body screaming in protest. He rubbed his face with one of his hands and placed his other hand on the mattress to stabilise his body. With that, he moved himself to stand at the edge of the bed and raised himself to his feet.

 

He felt the familiar bubbly feeling of a yawn stretching through his throat and making way to his lips. He opened his mouth wide and stretched his hands upwards before sighing in content. With that, he lazily walked out of his bedroom and past the living room to get to the front door. He punched in his security code harshly and opened the door.

 

His eyes blinked for a few seconds to what he was looking at. Well—what he was trying to look at. The empty hallway greeted him and soon, his brain caught up that he was staring at nothing before he shrugged. His heart however yammered behind his ribcage loudly, as if he was waiting for someone or something in particular to jump out. With that, he took a step forward out of the door only for a sharp crunch sound to fill the empty hallway.

 

Hiro frowned as he looked down to his feet, taking a step back and his eyes landed onto a note. His mind tried to wrack around to what a note—a  _note_ —doing in front of his doorstep. His cautiousness took a heightened sense but there was also curiosity. He slowly crouched down and picked the note up before straightening himself. His name was engraved neatly on the paper, otherwise folded neatly in half. He felt his cheeks reddening at how intimate it looked.

 

He held back himself from thinking too into this and once again took a step forward into the hallway, looking to his left and to his right to see who it could be that left this note here. The coldness of the hallway had him cowering back into his apartment and he closed the door shut. All his cautiousness melted away and instead, confusion took over.

 

Who had woken him up and left this note there in front of his doorstep?

 

He traced the name written in hand and he couldn’t help but to feel slightly squeamish inside. With that, he gently opened the neatly folded paper as if he was scared he would find something despicable inside. But his fears were put to rest and instead, a short message was written inside with the same handwriting. Hiro didn’t know what to feel—annoyed or flustered or maybe confusion, deeper revolving confusion would be a better term of emotion at the moment as he looked at the note.

 

He read the message once more before he felt his mind working out and trying to pull out anything that may had caused this letter—note—message—to be left at his doorstop in such a manner.

 

_Good Morning, Hiro! Leave your house with a smile and I’ll see you soon. – Tadashi_

 

What was he even supposed to say to this? Hiro blinked a few moments before yesterday’s events crashed into his mind like some evil cackling bricks. He felt a dull pain at the back of his head, sighing out as he shook his head.

 

The declaration that Tadashi had done so carelessly and casually, this attempt at seduction to make Hiro fall in love with him in mere fifteen days, the mere thought that Tadashi was into him like that made Hiro frown. The young scientist didn’t actually think that he would go through with it. Tadashi, the guy who had more than enough love interests that wanted him and Hiro’s arch rival was suddenly courting him. It sounded bizarre and strange inside of Hiro’s mind and he certainly didn’t think that this man was anywhere near serious.

 

A dark emotion smothered his mind when he realised that this could be some trick. Something to keep him away from focusing on his latest discovery. This was it—that was what all ever between them. Rivalry to see who would outlast the other on becoming the world’s most prestigious young scientist before they had to get on with their lives and settle down with someone. This was just a game to Tadashi, Hiro was sure of it.

 

If it wasn’t, then why would Tadashi suddenly declare that he was interested in Hiro— _out of all people_? Sure, he said that he just realised of his feelings but seriously, which sane person would just accept that? Hiro shook his head. He remembered clearly now of this bet.

 

It was a game indeed.

 

And it was a game he would not lose no matter what happened.

 

He looked at the note before he smirked and crushed it into a ball. And this note, it wasn’t going to make him waver at all. His mind set for the day, he left the doorstep heading to the kitchen, placing the ball of paper on the kitchen counter and turned on the electric kettle. He was in need for some strong coffee at the moment. With that, he left the kitchen to hunt down for his smartphone.

 

Grabbing the phone which was lying on his bed, he looked through the messages and missed phone calls. He hummed out in a soft tune when he saw a few messages from his agent, reminding him of his appointments today. He was tempted to just ignore them and sit at home but then again, he didn’t make it this far by being lazy. He then walked back to the kitchen and made himself some coffee. With that, he leaned against the counter and sipped the coffee, placing the phone on the counter.

 

The hot beverage almost scalded his tongue. He hissed out in pain a bit before he settled into sipping the coffee gently. He almost moaned at how hot the coffee was and how bitter it tasted, already waking him up. He couldn’t help but to smile when he remembered how his aunt would look when she caught him drinking coffee so early in the morning. She would always make him take something healthier—like orange juice or something of that sort.

 

His heart melted a bit and he was yearning to see her again. It ached deeply in his chest, embedded deep inside of him and as much as he wanted to take a ride to where everything had started, he couldn’t risk it today. No, not today. He had things to do and he didn’t think he would even have time to come back home early.

 

With that in his mind, he went ahead and got himself ready for today.

 

* * *

 

 

He walked into the studio where his interview was going to be carried on. He watched how the backstage people hurried off and ushered him into his own dressing room, tossing the suit into his face and the hairdressers tried make him look less messy and more presentable in front of the cameras. He didn’t do anything much, instead, he just made himself prepared for the questions that were going to be thrown at him.

 

It was always too much pressure for the young genius sometimes. Sure, he had wanted to make a change in this world and for a while, he reminisced at what his parents would say if they were alive now. His aunt always said that they would’ve been so proud at him. And he felt a soft smile tugging at the edge of his lips when he imagined at how approving and proud his parents would’ve looked at him. He sighed loudly and stared at his own reflection.

 

He saw himself—but somehow, he didn’t recognise him.

 

Was this how he was presented nowadays? He looked so void, so empty inside. He was taken back a bit when he saw the scars lying deep inside of those brown orbs. His neatly combed hair, the suit on him and the way the powder was making his skin look flawless—he was nothing more than a celebrity now. He hated this feeling because this wasn’t what he had signed up for. He wasn’t some icon to be idolised because he didn’t have it perfect.

 

He wasn’t whoever this person in front of him was.

 

He wasn’t  _this_  Hiro Hamada—the young teenage scientist.

 

No, sometimes, he would catch a glimpse of the old Hiro inside. The one who would feel nothing but happiness. The Hiro that never felt lonely and the Hiro that was mischievous enough to cause his aunt a lifetime of headaches. Because at the end of the day, he knew that the love she showered him was genuine and now—he missed it. These attentions he received nowadays, they weren’t what he wanted.

 

If he could see the future, he might’ve stopped himself from making himself discover anything at all. An abrupt knock on his dressing room door echoed the room before the door opened. From the reflection, a man walked inside. He was wearing his casual blue shirt and black pants, smiling when he caught Hiro’s eyes.

 

“You’re on in another two minutes, Hiro,” he said as he walked forward to the young genius. Hiro just gave him a tiny smile before the hairdressers and make-up artists left the room, satisfied with how he looked. His agent, Henry, stood behind of him and sighed loudly. “How’re you feeling?” he asked, his voice sounding a bit giddy as Hiro chuckled.

 

“Fine as I can ever be,” he said as he shrugged carelessly. Henry nodded before he looked down to his phone that he was holding. His shoulders became tense for a moment as Hiro eyed him. “What?” he asked as Henry looked at Hiro once more and smiled, something concealed behind it.

 

“Nothing,” he said. Hiro just narrowed his eyes at the man before Henry cleared his throat. “Just keep the hating to a minimum, would ya?”

 

Hiro rolled his eyes as he stood up from his chair and walked away from Henry. “I can’t make any promises,” Hiro said only for Henry to twist his smile down to a frown. Hiro looked at him for a while before he rolled his eyes at him. “What?”

 

“Hiro, you can do whatever you want, even strangle Tadashi behind the scenes, but when in front of a live national television,” Henry said, not continuing the sentence purposely just for a dramatic effect. But Hiro knew where he was coming from. Henry didn’t only have him under his wing, he actually was Tadashi’s agent too. That would actually explain why he was moved in next door to that annoying man. Hiro knew that today was going to be a lot of give-in and take. He would have to keep his image solidified in front of the cameras as someone who had more than enough common sense in his mind to neglect starting a petty war with Tadashi.

 

The Hiro in front of the cameras was also a charming young man who had everything in his hands at the moment. Fame, money, dedication and the looks—everything that was intriguing to a human eye. He was someone who respected other people’s opinions and actually assumed to have great sportsmanship with Tadashi.

 

Behind the scenes, he was given a chance to unravel that thick layer of imitation and be himself—even if it was just a moment behind the small circle of people he trusted. But even then, he wasn’t allowed to be a hundred percent himself. So, he tucked those small parts of him that flawed from everyone’s eyes and kept it hidden for someone he truly trusted.

 

“I know,” Hiro said after a moment before he opened the door and walked out. “I have to go.”

 

“Good luck and do your best, Hiro,” Henry wished him as he followed the young scientist out.

 

Hiro waited along the edges of the backstage, waiting for his turn as he opened the cap of the mineral bottle he obtained from the refreshment corner in his room. Downing the cool water, he didn’t realise that someone else had already taken a stand next to him. “Careful there, you don’t want to finish all of that. Trust me, it wouldn’t be pleasant twenty minutes from now.”

 

Hiro almost choked in his drink as he removed the bottle from his lips, the half-full water sloshed in its bottle. He looked at the man and rolled his eyes in irritation, already feeling the sneer-like attitude ready and aimed on him. “Whatever, my bladder, my rules,” he retorted even though it sounded childish even to his ears. Tadashi just chuckled, smiling genuinely at him before he looked at the stage.

 

“I just don’t want you to run out of the stage when you can’t hold it in any longer,” he said as Hiro felt his cheeks reddening. Grumbling under his breath, Hiro looked away and sighed, feeling his shoulders drooping from the stress. Just then, the note he got this morning jolted his insides into a weird frenzy. He quickly looked back at Tadashi, opening his mouth to prepare for the question.

 

“We’re on!” a voice cut him off and before he knew it, the set was full and the host appeared. Everything else was set on and the broadcast started. The host introduced himself before he continued to introduce the segments for this show as Hiro was pestered to the side by one of the backstage workers and found himself getting a small microphone attached to his white shirt. Tugging at his jacket after that, the crew man touched up his hair one last time before he was ushered to the stage. Glancing at Tadashi one last time, he stood up straight and walked out of the backstage, smiling brightly even though it was projecting nothing but falseness and faux-coated aura.

 

He was seated a few feet away from the interviewer and once in a while, he would crack in a joke or two and the crowd would laugh with him. And then, the interviewer brought Tadashi into the set and Hiro tried not to let his dismay show too much. In fact, he just offered the man a meek yet passable smile as the man sat next to him.

 

The interviewer slash host looked at Tadashi, starting out with a grin before he proceeded to ask some questions, sometimes dragging Hiro into the conversation and Hiro would try to answer without trying to bite out sarcasm. But those who knew him from inside clearly could feel the distaste he was radiating even though he was under a different persona. As he was finally settling down for this interview, a question from the host took him off guard.

 

“So, Tadashi, how do you feel about Hiro’s latest discovery?” the host asked, smiling widely but Hiro could see the darkness behind that mask. That question, it wasn’t the most original question he had ever heard but it was never asked when he was in the same room. Whatever that comes out from Tadashi’s mouth at the moment would be answered straight to the young genius’s face. Hiro didn’t know why but he was actually feeling a little bit scared.

 

As much as he didn’t want to care what other people said about him, something about Tadashi’s thoughts always pulled Hiro’s attention. Even if he couldn’t deny it, deep inside, he could still hear the shimmering idolisation he had for this man a long time ago. He wouldn’t let himself get caught saying anything like that but when the night was stale and he was in his room alone with nobody to hear him, he would admit that indeed, he sometimes looked up to Tadashi.

 

But Tadashi always had the same response. It was like he had rehearsed it in front of a mirror whenever the question was administered to him. It was always along the lines that Hiro was doing something great and he was happy that the world got something new once again to add in this human revolution for a better future. His answers were always vague and they never really focused on this young genius and Hiro hate to admit but it made him feel weird inside anyway.

 

It was as if, even though it sounded rehearsed, it sounded genuine. Not like when he had to say good things about Tadashi with that fake smile and laugh. Even though he knew that what he said was obviously the truth, he still didn’t like addressing the man positively to the media—mainly because of all these mixed emotions inside of him and yet, when Tadashi complimented Hiro, the young scientist would feel light inside.

 

Tadashi shifted in his seat a bit before he glanced at Hiro. Hiro looked back at him and just forced out a smile, even though it felt weird and he was sure, Tadashi spotted the strands of nervousness around the edges. Hiro took in a deep breath as he settled in his seat, waiting for whatever Tadashi had stored for him. Seconds ticked on and it felt like years for Hiro before Tadashi chuckled.

 

“Well, I think he’s done something extraordinary,” Tadashi started off as the host nodded. “I mean, he’s only nineteen and already starting a human revolution.”

 

“So, what’s your opinion on this? I mean, if our sources are correct, you two are like eternal rivals, am I right?” the host asked as he eyed Tadashi before he looked at Hiro. The young scientist knew what the man was trying to pull. The host was trying to dig in the gold. He wanted to see deeper behind the shades that they were trying to show off. Hiro didn’t like this interview anymore but he didn’t show it. Instead, he just sat up straight and took the glass of water that was served for them. He raised the glass to the host for permission to drink and the host just nodded before he focused back on Tadashi.

 

“Rivals, well,” Tadashi said with a bit of giddiness in his voice that had the young scientist feeling squeamish inside. He took gentle sips of the water, trying to wet his suddenly dry throat. “Rivals or not, behind the scenes when we’re not working against each other, I actually adore him.”

 

Hiro choked in his water as he removed the glass and placed it on the table and coughed a bit. The host looked at him amused for a moment. Hiro felt his cheeks reddening and confusion welling up inside of his mind. “Adore? It turns out Hiro doesn’t hear that from you often, huh? He looks absolutely stricken!” the host joked as Hiro smiled at him before he looked at Tadashi from the corner of his eyes.

 

“Oh, well, you know, we rarely meet up,” Tadashi said as he shrugged casually as if this didn’t affect him. Hiro envied at how calm he looked as to right now, he was failing this calm demeanour. “I really do adore him and his intelligence. He actually intrigued me when I met him in the first year. So, he’s like a push for me to do better.”

 

Hiro felt his heart picking up speed as he smiled, his heart feeling light inside. It was as if deep inside, he was glad that he heard that. Tadashi didn’t sound as if he was trying to choke out lies but instead it sounded genuine. Hiro let his mind wander around as he picked and tore out what he was feeling at the moment to be properly examined later on. The host nodded, grinning before he looked back at Hiro. “How about you, Hiro? You share the sentiment?” he asked as Hiro nodded immediately, hoping he sounded convincing.

 

The truth was it was somewhat true. The reason he was doing so well at the moment was because of Tadashi. This man who was now sitting next to him, he was someone who he wanted to beat in his own game and because of that determination, Hiro was able to always push himself past his own limitations to do better. He was here mainly because of—Tadashi. That realisation dawned into him like a bucket of cold ice and it made him feel stiff.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said as he tried to force himself to relax. “I do actually,” Hiro said and he was surprised at how genuine he sounded. Tadashi just hummed out a response that sounded like he appreciated it. The host simply beamed at them before he continued on with the next question. Soon, they moved away from the topic and Hiro found himself answering them absent-mindedly. His subconscious mind was more aggressively working on the fact that he was touched with that answer from Tadashi.

 

He was actually pleased with it. Hiro felt his heart yammering against his chest and he felt as if someone had poured ten buckets of adoration in his heart. His cheeks suddenly felt heated and for a while, he felt the need to get up and get a cold shower.

 

This was what Tadashi’s words were doing to him from within and Hiro, he didn’t like it. His mind drifted back to the note he found this morning and then—everything slammed right back into place. He felt slightly disappointed when he realised that this was one of his tactics to seduce Hiro. Tadashi, he said all of those things to worm his way into Hiro’s heart. To throw the young scientist off his feet so that all the world’s adoration would be focused on him instead while Hiro took the blows to his career.

 

Once the interview ended, Hiro thanked everyone on the set and headed backstage, ready to change out of these clothes and head out to get something to eat. It was almost lunch time and he wanted nothing more than to get away, far away from Tadashi. He didn’t hesitate to rush to his dressing room and changed out of these clothes into his blue hoodie and his worn out jeans. He texted Henry that he was leaving and took off, his mind already clouding over from all of this nonsense.

 

It shouldn’t bother him that Tadashi was going through with this. And he shouldn’t be thinking anything remotely positive about the enemy. It wasn’t going to work whatever Tadashi had in store for him. Hiro was going to stay strong and he would not waver. He nodded in determination to himself as he strode out of the studio. He wore his sunglasses before he took the local bus to head to SFIT. He needed to get his mind out of this and work on his other more pressing matters.

 

* * *

 

 

He entered the lab with a sandwich in his hand. He took a bite as he sighed and looked around his messy lab. The lab door slid closed with a hiss and soon, he was left with his own devices. He walked to his table and looked through his sketches before he sat down on his chair. Finishing up his sandwich, his mind crawled back to this morning’s interview.

 

He didn’t know why it bothered him so much but it did. He didn’t understand though why Tadashi would scoop this low to destroy him. He was convinced that he wasn’t genuine with his bet. At the end of the day, it was just a game, wasn’t it? Just then, the door to the lab slid opened and Wasabi walked in, humming out a song. Hiro looked at him and grinned widely as Wasabi smiled at him.

 

He took off his earphones and tucked them into his jeans pocket before he leaned against the wall. “So, you look horrible,” he said after he assessed Hiro. The young genius rolled his eyes as he nodded. He knew how messy his hair was and he knew how completely plain he looked at the moment. But his mind was muddled up somehow to actually focus on how he looked.

 

“Thanks,” Hiro said as he smiled at him. Wasabi just chuckled at that.

 

“I thought you’ll be busy now,” he said. “You know, genius strikes again with a new law dedicated under your name. What did you call this law? Hiro’s Second Law?”

 

“As much as that has a nice ring to it,” Hiro said as he leaned deeper into his chair. “The name’s decided by the association. Not me. But I’ll definitely submit that suggestion,” Hiro mused as Wasabi rolled his eyes at him. Silence ventured in between them after that before Hiro sighed loudly, closing his eyes a bit. The sudden image of Tadashi had him opening his eyes and sitting up straight. He ran his fingers through his hair, quite perplexed as to why his mind was covered every inch of that man.

 

“Someone’s restless,” Wasabi noted.

 

“Shut up,” Hiro said without the venom. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

 

“I can see that,” Wasabi said. “What’s wrong with you, man? Aren’t you supposed to live your life now? You’re only nineteen, Hiro.”

 

Hiro just looked at Wasabi for a moment before he shook his head. “My whole life is a huge joke to him,” Hiro slowly admitted it as Wasabi raised his eyebrows.

 

“To  _who_?” Wasabi asked slowly as Hiro stood up and stretched a bit before he slumped back on his chair.

 

“Tadashi,” Hiro said, his name ringing off weirdly in his ears. Wasabi just blinked at him for a moment before he curled a smile on his face.

 

“You guys had a spat or something?” Wasabi asked. Hiro cringed at how casual that sentence sounded.

 

“No,” Hiro said. “Could you believe him? He was made in hell just for me.”

 

“Oh, here we go again,” Wasabi couldn’t help it as he muttered that out playfully. Hiro shot him a dark look. “What did he do this time?”

 

Hiro chuckled humourlessly before he looked Wasabi straight in the eyes. “He wants to seduce me.”

 

If Hiro had a camera right now, he would’ve taken a picture and made it his wallpaper. Something childish in him laughed in glee when Wasabi’s face went slack and his eyes widened. The silence between them was tense until Wasabi stood up straighter. He opened and closed his mouth and Hiro could hear how fast his friend’s brain was working.

 

_3_

 

_2_

 

 _1_ —

 

“ _Whaaaa_ —?” Wasabi croaked out as Hiro bit down a smile threatening to take over his face. “What, what— _huh_? What do you mean— _seduce_?”

 

“Seduce,” Hiro confirmed, amusement latching in his voice. “He came to my apartment yesterday night. He wanted to apologise for making me irritated or something and just like that he confessed that he was attracted to me and he likes me.”

 

“You mean, like  _like_  like?  _That_  type of like?”

 

“That’s a hell lot of likes, Wasabi,” Hiro teased as Wasabi narrowed his eyes at the young genius.

 

“You’re joking,” he said. But Hiro only sighed before he shook his head.

 

“I wish he did,” Hiro muttered, remembering back to what happened this morning. “He started this seduction thing today. With a note, Wasabi. He left a note in front of my door. A  _note_! I feel like I’m in a cheesy rom-com.”

 

“Tadashi?” Wasabi asked, still stuck behind the conversation. Hiro was beginning to worry for his friend’s mental state to accept the fact. “That’s…woah. I just,” Wasabi said before he started to laugh. Hiro raised his eyebrows as Wasabi laughed until he was choking for air. The young genius just frowned before he groaned in exasperation.

 

“I’m glad it’s funny to you, Wasabi,” he snapped as Wasabi tried to control his breathing.

 

“I-I’m  _sorry_ ,” he said. “But man,  _you’re_  getting  _seduced_!”

 

“What’s so funny about that?” he asked, his cheeks flushing slightly.

 

“What’s funny is that it’s  _you_  who’s getting seduced,” Wasabi grinned out. “This is great, isn’t it? I told you that he had ulterior motive behind that teasing.”

 

“No, you don’t get it,” Hiro said, standing up as the frustration took over inside of him. “I hate him, Wasabi. He can seduce me as much as he wants, I’m not bending over for him.”

 

“Dude,” Wasabi said. “That sounded suggestive.”

 

Hiro’s cheeks coloured once more as he eyed Wasabi annoyed. “The thing is, I’m pretty sure he’s doing this to throw me off.”

 

“Throw you off?” Wasabi asked. “You mean like get your focus all jumbled up so he wins?”

 

“Exactly,” Hiro said as he pointed at Wasabi. “He’s so confident that he’ll make me fall for him before Valentine’s Day. The thing is I won’t. Hiro Hamada doesn’t fall for someone like him.”

 

Wasabi just sighed as he leaned against the wall once again. “Hiro, maybe he really does like you,” he said slowly.

 

“Hello,” Hiro asked. “Have you forgotten that he has a girlfriend? He’s cheating on her if he’s going through with this.”

 

“Maybe, maybe not,” Wasabi mused on for a while. “But man, what if that’s it? What if he fell for you since Honey is always away from him? He could really love you, you know.”

 

Hiro felt his heart niggling at the words of affection. He shook his head as he felt the loneliness blanching his canvas inside. He sat down and sighed loudly before he looked at Wasabi. “I doubt that,” he said slowly, a grim smile making way on his face.  _Who would want to love me anyway? If they found out all these insecurities underneath, they’ll leave. They will._

 

“Hiro,” Wasabi started but Hiro just turned around and went near his table, starting with his work.

 

“Anyways, are you going to help me with this or not?” Hiro asked over his shoulder as he started to calculate the numbers on his latest invention. Wasabi stared at his friend for a few seconds before he nodded and joined him. For now, the thoughts about this were pushed back to the back of his mind and they went ahead with their work.

 

* * *

 

 

He reached his apartment after dinner with Wasabi having enjoyed a classic meal of another sandwich. Hiro didn’t know where he got his unhealthy obsession with sandwiches but he did and he could eat it every day if that was the only thing he needed to survive on. He walked outside of the elevator and casually took each step forward, heading to his apartment. As he finally neared his apartment, he stopped midway when he saw someone waiting in front of his door.

 

Tadashi was leaning against the door, looking at his shoes before he raised his head and looked at Hiro, grinning. He straightened himself and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. Hiro rolled his eyes and wondered why the universe enjoyed throwing him into a loophole of nautical nonsense. He ignored Tadashi as he pushed past him to punch in the security code. After the door clicked, he opened it and walked inside. For a minute there, he wanted to slam the door on Tadashi’s face but his courtesy that he was taught since he was young stopped him.

 

So, he turned around and looked at Tadashi, who was just smiling at him. “What can I do for you?” Hiro asked.

 

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he said. “You left the studio so fast that I didn’t get any chance to ask if you were alright.”

 

“I’m fine, leave,” Hiro said as he was about to slam the door shut. But before he could do it, the door was stopped by Tadashi’s hand. He pushed it open and Hiro groaned internally as he took a step back. “What?” he asked as Tadashi just rolled his eyes at Hiro.

 

“You know, the more you act like this,” he started before he smirked and leaned against the doorway. He eyed Hiro for a moment before he said, “The more attractive you are to me.”

 

Hiro’s cheeks blazed red as he felt his heart pick up speed. His eyes widened as he took another step backwards. “What?” he questioned. He pondered the sentence in his head for a moment before he frowned. “Are you really going to do this?”

 

“Do what?” Tadashi asked innocently. “I’m just concerned about you.”

 

“Hah!” Hiro exclaimed as he narrowed his eyes at the man. “I know what you’re doing, Tadashi. I’m not stupid.”

 

“No, you’re not stupid,” Tadashi said casually. “What made you think otherwise?”

 

“Tadashi!” Hiro exclaimed in frustration as Tadashi chuckled. “This isn’t funny! The note this morning, those things you said about me in the interview—it’s smooth, real smooth but they won’t work on me. I’m not going to fall into this trap, Tadashi.”

 

Silence ventured in for a bit before Tadashi straightened himself and took a few steps forward to Hiro. The young genius in return took a few steps back but before he could further react, Tadashi slowly touched his face and cupped his cheeks using both of his hands. Hiro’s eyes widened as he felt the soft warm flesh around his face. He was tugged close until he was looking at the man in the eyes. Tadashi smiled warmly and somehow, that warmth tugged something deep inside of Hiro’s chest.

 

 _What—what was this_?

 

“ _What_  are you doing?” Hiro asked as his mind tried to conjure up sentences but the confusion and fluffiness inside was muddling his responses. Tadashi just sighed.

 

“Believe me, Hiro,” he said softly. His voice was laced with some affection and something dark clouded Hiro’s mind. His eyes glazed over and he felt something akin to warmth almost taking over his body. “Just believe me.”

 

Hiro felt his hands moving out of his own accord and touched both of Tadashi’s hands. He grasped his wrists and yet, he didn’t pull the hands away. What was this? Why did he feel this warmth soothing him from inside?

 

Silence ventured in between them for a moment before Hiro tore the hands away from his face. There wasn’t any irritation but he felt empty. “I…I can’t,” Hiro said. He knew he sounded defeated but he had solid reasons as to why. And Tadashi didn’t have any clearance to hear them out either. Hiro let the man’s hands go and Tadashi took them away. Silence filled them in before Tadashi leaned in closer. Hiro’s eyes traced the man’s face and searched his eyes and for a moment, he was reeled in.

 

“There’s still time,” Tadashi said before he kissed Hiro’s cheek and straightened himself. “Goodnight, Hiro.” With that, he turned around and walked out of the house. Hiro was left there standing and staring at where Tadashi had stood. He didn’t know why but he felt something in him shifting. But then, he forced himself to remember that this was Tadashi. He slowly touched his chest and rubbed it absent-mindedly.

 

This was just a trick. Hiro sighed loudly and closed the door shut. His mind was a muffled mess. He could see why women actually threw themselves at Tadashi, trying to get a piece of his attention. It felt good to be the centre of his world but it was all just an illusion. Hiro closed his eyes and leaned against the door, trying to clear his head. He felt the aching headache coming on again and he counted back from a thousand.

 

This was just a trick.

 

He convinced himself after enough times of repeating it in his head and decided to just get some sleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hm... -silence- ....
> 
> Ya! Ta-da~! Ya, I know, it sucks. //sobs// I'm bad at this seduction thing but I hope you guys managed without cringing a lot for the obvious clicheness. Anyways, I've tried my best and to me, this chapter sounded a bit boring. Was it boring? Oh wells, hope you guys enjoyed it though! Thank you for the awesomesauce comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks! It means a lot to me~ Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter though! ^^ Until the next chapter~ -Krystal
> 
> **Edited:11/5/2015**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine! 
> 
> _I rather make myself believe, that planet Earth turns slowly_ – Fireflies (Owl City)

 

 

Hiro looked at his smartphone and almost choked on his toast. He had just woken up at eight in the morning with nothing on his schedule until noon. So, he decided to laze in his bed a few minutes before heading to the bathroom to wash up. With that, he had gone to the kitchen to eat some toast. As he scrolled through his messages, he read the message sent by his agent. He stared at the message as he drank a glass of water. His face reddened as he reread the message for the fifth time that morning.

 

“You’re _kidding_ me,” he said to himself.

 

_You have a trip to London for the Young Scientist Convention. Your ticket will arrive today. You’ll be going with Tadashi. –Henry_

 

Hiro sighed loudly as he placed his smartphone on the counter, just counting a hundred reasons as to why this would be a bad idea. What was Henry thinking? Hiro looked to the ground and stared at his bare feet for a while, his mind flashing back to what happened these past two days. It was the second day of this stupid little game of his. He felt the lurch of weirdness taking over as he remembered how Tadashi’s hand felt on his face. It was warm and it was nice. Hiro had to admit, it was relaxing—the touch and Honey was actually lucky.

 

But too bad it wouldn’t work on him.

 

It was just one of Tadashi's tactics to keep Hiro unfocused. He shook his head as he felt his cheeks reddening when he remembered what Tadashi had said about him on national television. He almost believed them, the words that sounded so genuine. Whatever that came out from his mouth, it sounded so sincere that he couldn’t help but to believe them. But he was his rival and for once, that all made sense to him.

 

Tadashi was nothing more than a big fat weirdo.

 

And now, he had to spend two days with him—in _London_. He groaned at that thought and shook his head. He needed to drown himself in his life before this reality dragged him away. He needed to go back to his roots and live in the type of buzz he had before he had to get back in the saddle with this reality. He pondered for a moment before he nodded and took his smartphone. He quickly grabbed his bag that was lying on the couch in the living room and headed for the door.

 

He wore his sneakers before he sighed and keyed in his security code. The door gave a few beeps before it clicked open. With that, Hiro grabbed the metal handle and pulled it open, coming face to face with the said man that irritated the daylights out of him. The young genius stood and stared at Tadashi, who seemed to have caught wanting to knock on the door.

 

A few seconds passed before Hiro sighed loudly, his good mood already turning around at the sight of Tadashi. “What?” he questioned, irritation seeping through his words. Tadashi just dropped his hand that was bawled into a fist and cleared his throat. Hiro blinked a few times when he spotted that Tadashi’s face was slightly red. He narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. Tadashi immediately took a few steps back, giving space for Hiro to move out from the front door.

 

Hiro turned around and pulled the door close shut, hearing the faint click and beep from the security alarm. Turning around once more to face Tadashi, he raised his eyebrows when Tadashi just shuffled from one foot to the other, a smile making way on his face. “Good morning,” he said as Hiro rolled his eyes and nodded at him for politeness.

 

“Yeah, you too,” he said curtly before he turned away from the man and started to walk to the elevator. Tadashi didn’t waste any time standing about and started catching up to Hiro, walking next to him. Silence enveloped between them as Hiro took the liberty to ignore him. He pressed on the elevator button and waited for the doors to open.

 

“So, you heard the news?” Tadashi questioned, sounding cheery so early in the morning. Hiro wanted to scowl but he refused to dignify Tadashi with any response, therefore he kept his face passive and just hummed out a reply. “We’ll be travelling together.” Something about that sentence made the young genius cringe as he sighed under his breath. Finally the metallic doors opened and Hiro walked inside, followed closely by Tadashi. With that, Hiro pressed on the ground button and waited for the elevator music to overwhelm him from this conversation.

 

However, Tadashi didn’t get what the silence Hiro was emitting signified and continued on with his one-sided conversation. “We also might be sitting together in the plane.”

 

“What do you want?” Hiro asked dryly, hoping that Tadashi would just shut up. There was definitely something wrong with this man, Hiro had concluded in his mind. Tadashi just chuckled before he grinned widely.

 

“I just wanted to see you,” he said as Hiro felt his eyebrows climbing up. He glanced at Tadashi and just sagged his shoulders. He knew that it was futile to ignore him forever. Tadashi always had that secret passage way to get Hiro’s attention and as much as this young genius didn’t want to admit it, it always worked.

 

“Well, _ta-da_ ,” he said dryly. “Now, go away. I have things to do today.” The doors of the elevator slid opened and Hiro sighed once more before he got off, heading towards the building’s sliding glass doors to get out of here. Tadashi just hummed out casually as he followed the young genius out. Before he could take another step away, a hand shot out and grabbed his right hand gently. It was so gentle that it almost shocked Hiro from his skin. Turning around and snatching his hand back, he looked at Tadashi and scowled. “What?”

 

“Here,” he said as he handed out a strawberry candy. Hiro raised his eyebrows and he was sure that his eyebrows were climbing way up until nobody could see it anymore. His heart started to thump louder in his chest and sudden confusion washed through him as he stared at the candy.

 

“What’s… _that_?” Hiro asked, carefully looking back at Tadashi. The man just smiled at Hiro before he grabbed Hiro’s right hand and placed the candy on his palm. He closed the fingers around the candy and held it tight before letting Hiro’s hand go. Hiro felt the candy wrapper shallowly digging through his skin as he gulped, his mind drawing blank.

 

“Just something I think you’ll like,” Tadashi said as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I got these candies from France. And I thought you might like to try one.”

 

Hiro just kept quiet, trying to ponder around that sentence before he looked at his hand again. Clutching the candy tight, he looked at Tadashi again and opened his mouth. But before he could say whatever that was crossing his mind, Tadashi just shrugged and waved at him. With that, he turned around and walked away, digging away his car keys from his pockets and heading out of the place. Hiro just stood there and stared at his back until he disappeared. With that, he looked back at his hand and felt something warm worming way in his chest.

 

This was… _unexpected_. Nobody had done something like this before. He felt his cheeks reddening before Hiro shook those thoughts away. He took the candy, shoving it into his bag as he walked out of the place as well. He had to be cautious from now on. Tadashi seemed to have a million other ways to take Hiro off guard and somewhere inside his mind he knew that this was just the beginning.

 

Small waves of dread washed into him as he sighed loudly. Why was it that his life always seemed to make things harder for him than it already was? Why couldn’t he just do things his way for once? He didn’t ask to be pulled into this game. He hated Tadashi, he didn’t want anything to do with the man. It was more than enough that his life was already tied up with that man in so many aspects. Now his non-existent love life had to be infiltrated too?

 

But somehow, Hiro found his mood lifting slightly. He felt warm in this cold morning and it made him felt weird inside. Nobody in his nineteen years of life had done something like this. Nobody had come up to him and just told him that they liked him—that they were interested in him and wanted to try and be with him. He always assumed that when the time came, he would just meet this girl from somewhere and fall in love with her or maybe, he would end up in a loveless marriage. It had only ever been between these two scenarios whenever it was about his love life but now, his reality had been tipped upside down by this man.

 

 _Seduction_.

 

Hiro snorted at that. He knew every definition and every meaning related to that word but what Tadashi seemed to be doing looked unique. New and for once, Hiro found himself waiting for what was about to come. He shook his head gently and continued on walking. But he wouldn’t give in to this game. He was convinced this was just some kind of a game for the both of them, to see who would give up first. Just like the rivalry between them all this time—this was one of those things too.

 

This wasn’t real.

 

* * *

 

 

The café came into his view and Hiro couldn’t help but to smile wide. He took a few steps closer to the café before he looked through the windows. His eyes scanned at the customers inside of the small building before his eyes caught onto Cass. She was serving her famous pies to her customers with a smile meanwhile a man passed by her and served another plate of pie to the other table. Cass smiled widely at her customers before she walked to the man. With that, she pecked his lips and headed to the kitchen, the man—Teo, following shortly after.

 

Hiro smiled gently before he sighed and walked inside of the café. The warmth of the café immediately hit him as the smell of pastries, cakes and coffee filled the air. He took a few steps inside, casually looking past the customers who had smiles on their faces to the kitchen entrance. He continued his way to the counter and stood there, just waiting for his aunt to make an appearance. It took only seconds before his aunt’s face beamed at him when she spotted her nephew.

 

“Hiro!” she exclaimed loudly, her voice dripping with happiness. Hiro grinned at her and gave her a hug. Her grip on him was deadly and tight, almost as if she hadn’t seen him for years. He felt the shallow ache at that before he hugged her back just as tight. After a few seconds, he released her and smiled. “You’re here!” she said as she cupped his face and stretched his cheeks before letting him go completely.

 

He rubbed his cheeks before he shook his head. “Yeah,” he said. “I just wanted to see you.”

 

“Well, I missed you too, Hiro,” she said solemnly before Teo came around from behind her. He smiled at him before Hiro gave him a short hug too.

 

“Do you need anything?” Teo asked, pointing to the kitchen. Hiro just chuckled.

 

“Coffee, please?” he said as Teo grinned and nodded.

 

“So, what brought you here? I thought you’ll be so busy to even drop by,” Cass said as she dragged Hiro to sit at one of the empty seats. He settled into his seat as he sighed and placed his bag next to him.

 

“Sorry, Aunt Cass,” he said. “You know how my life can be. I wanted to come and visit you all the time but every time I tried, things got in the way.” She nodded at him before Teo came around and placed a cup of coffee in front of him. Then, he took a seat next to Cass and smiled at Hiro, warmth washing into his eyes. Hiro had long accepted him into the family, treating him like his very own uncle or father. Teo was always nice to him, supportive too—something that he was grateful for.

 

He quietly sipped onto the hot coffee before sighing. “You look really tense,” Teo said after a while. Hiro looked at him and shrugged helplessly.

 

“I am,” he agreed. “I have a trip to London soon,” he said.

 

“How long will you be gone?” Cass asked as she furrowed her eyebrows. Hiro knew that she was worried. She never really liked Hiro going too far away from her reach. She had always made him stay around her so she could keep an eye on him. In her books, Hiro was still a young boy who needed his aunt’s protection and somehow, Hiro couldn’t deny that. He _was_ still a young boy after all. He just had to grow up early for whatever reasons he couldn’t remember now.

 

“Two days, I think,” Hiro said as she sighed.

 

“When will you be travelling?” she questioned.

 

“Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Hiro said as he looked at her and smiled. “I’ll be fine, Aunt Cass.”

 

“I just don’t like you travelling too far away,” she said slowly as Teo wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed it. Hiro didn’t miss the worry in Teo’s eyes too. He couldn’t help but to feel warm again inside.

 

“I’ll be fine,” he said as he flicked his wrist dismissively. “I’ll be back before you know it. I’ll buy you something before I come back home.”

 

She nodded even though she doesn’t seem so keen on the idea. “Will you be going alone?” Teo asked as Hiro sighed loudly at that question. Leaning deeper into his chair, he let a small frown to settle on his lips.

 

“No,” he said. Cass eyed him for a while before a smile stretched on her lips.

 

“I’m guessing it’s someone you don’t like,” she said as Hiro nodded.

 

“ _Tadashi_ ,” he said, wincing to himself at how cold he sounded. Teo chuckled at that and Hiro shot the man an exasperated look.

 

“Ah, your long-lost brother,” Cass teased as Hiro groaned under his breath.

 

“Not you too, Aunt Cass,” Hiro said. “It’s enough that the media is having fun with that and now they got you too?”

 

“Well, he does have the same last name as you do,” she said and shrugged. Hiro just scowled at that before he took his coffee mug and sipped the now lukewarm coffee. “Come on, Hiro. He doesn’t seem like a bad kid.”

 

“He’s annoying,” Hiro mumbled at the rim of his mug. “Very annoying. He’s born to make my life a living hell.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you’re just over exaggerating,” Teo chimed in as Hiro sighed and placed his mug on the table.

 

“You wouldn’t believe what he’s trying to do to me now,” he mumbled. Cass’s eyebrows perked upwards as she looked at her nephew.

 

“And _what_ is he trying to do now?” she asked. Hiro looked at her for a while before he bit his bottom lip. His cheeks reddened without him willing it when he recalled what was going on between them. Cass noticed his face before a smirk made way on her lips. “Hiro?”

 

“He’s—I don’t know,” Hiro said after a while, remembering the candy he gave him. Strawberry candy, why strawberry? Hiro had never liked strawberries and for that fruit to be in a candy? And yet, he still took it. Without any return, Hiro took it. “He said he likes me.”

 

“ _Hah_!” Cass clapped her hands together. “I told you! That boy is too nice to hate anyone.”

 

“No, you don’t get it,” Hiro said annoyed. “He’s just so weird. He’s doing all of these nice things to me to…to…seduce me to like him and it’s just—”

 

“ _Seduce_?” Teo asked amused, his lips quirking upwards. Hiro stopped midsentence and looked at him before his face flared red. Clasping his mouth shut, he looked away from Teo and went back to sipping his coffee, flicking his hand once again dismissively.

 

“That boy likes you!” Cass said excitedly. “And now he’s trying to change your mind about him. How romantic is that?”

 

“Aunt Cass,” Hiro said almost sounding whiny. “I don’t like him that way. I’m not—I don’t even swing that way!”

 

Teo just chuckled before he sighed. “Teenagers these days,” he said before he got up, heading to where a customer was waiting at the counter. Cass kissed his cheek before he left, looking back at Hiro with a wide smile.

 

“Maybe you’ll like him, Hiro,” she said after a minute. “Maybe, this could change your loveless life.”

 

“ _Har_ _har_ ,” Hiro said.

 

“I’m serious though,” she said. “Maybe you’ve been reading him wrongly all this while.”

 

“I don’t know,” Hiro said. “I think he’s just trying to distract me from my career. And when I go down in ashes, he would leave me. It’s the only explanation.”

 

A pregnant pause accompanied them for a while before Cass sighed and shrugged. “I can’t say that it isn’t true since I don’t know him well. But—who knows, maybe you’re wrong.”

 

“I doubt that,” he said. “But we’ll see.” With that, he continued to drink his coffee silently, changing the subject swiftly to ask about Mochi, his cat. Cass just let the conversation slip past that zone to somewhere else, answering his questions earnestly.

 

* * *

 

 

“Why _with_ Tadashi?”

 

Henry just stared at him as he handed Hiro the tickets. Hiro had went back to his lab after the visit with his aunt, deciding to continue on his inventions before Henry dropped by to give the tickets. It turned out he would be leaving tomorrow evening to London. His agent just sighed at the young genius before he smiled.

 

“Because I said so,” he said as Hiro scowled at him.

 

“Alright, fine,” Hiro said. “But I’ll be in a different hotel, right?” he asked. He knew his question was dumb as Henry gave him a look. After no answer, he assumed that _no, he wouldn’t be placed in a different hotel either_. He groaned as he walked to his desk and sat on his chair, looking at Henry with a frown. Henry just ran his fingers through his hair and looked around his lab.

 

“Stop being such a baby,” Henry said lightly. “It’s just two days.” After a few seconds, he added, “Besides, it’s not like you two are going to share a room or something. Just relax. I’ll be meeting you there too, you know.”

 

“ _Yay_ ,” Hiro said dryly before he straightened himself and nodded. “Fine. Whatever. You owe me one, Henry.”

 

“I owe you a lot,” Henry agreed. “Just don’t start any confrontation that could end up splashed as the front page news. We don’t need any more media’s attention on you two.”

 

“I won’t be the one starting it if anything like that happens,” Hiro said as Henry gave him a pointed look.

 

“I’m serious,” he chided gently. Hiro just smiled at his agent before sighing.

 

“I’ll be on my best behaviour, happy?” he said sarcastically. However, the sarcasm didn’t register in Henry’s brain as he smiled brightly at that and nodded.

 

“Alright so, Fred will pick you two up in London,” he said as he looked at his tablet. Hiro perked up at that and grinned widely.

 

“Fred’s going to be there?” he asked as Henry nodded.

 

Fred was one of Hiro’s closest friends when he was still studying in SFIT. He was also Tadashi’s partner in assignments and that was how Fred also knew Tadashi. Somehow, Fred didn’t seem too awkward being friends with the two of them—in fact, he had fun getting to know the both of them. After that, he ended up inventing this suit that could give out fire like a real Godzilla and somehow, that suit was dubbed as ‘Fredzilla’. It wasn’t developed deeper but it was displayed as one of the young scientist’s greatest inventions. And then, he moved to London when his parents decided to continue working on their London branch and Hiro rarely got to see Fred after that.

 

“He’s going to be your tour guide,” Henry said as he looked at Hiro and smiled. “Aren’t I your favourite agent?”

 

“You’re my only agent,” Hiro said as Henry nodded.

 

“And I better be your only agent for a long time.”

 

* * *

 

 

By the time he got home, it was almost seven in the evening. His stomach grumbled but he was too lazy to head anywhere else for the remainder of the evening. He needed to prepare his stuff for the trip tomorrow. He walked near his apartment door and almost stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Tadashi, leaning against the wall next to his door, looking at the carpeted floor. He looked different, Hiro noted. He was wearing something casual; a pair of dark blue jeans with his black shirt, but it looked— _good_ on him. Hiro shook those thoughts out as he walked closer to him, not even trying to get to his door.

 

“Can I help you… _again_?” Hiro asked dryly as Tadashi snapped his gaze and looked at him. For a while, Tadashi just silently stared at him in the eyes before he broke his passive face into a smile and stood straight.

 

“Have you eaten?” he asked. Hiro furrowed his eyebrows and looked at his apartment door. It would be so easy to just walk in and slam the door shut on Tadashi’s face. But then, it was rude and Hiro—as much as he hated Tadashi—didn’t have that level of rudeness to do that. He pondered that question in his mind for a few seconds before he shook his head.

 

He didn’t know why he couldn’t have just lied and said that he had eaten but when something in Tadashi’s eyes bored through him, he decided to just tell the truth. “No,” he said as Tadashi nodded at that.

 

“Great,” he said. Hiro’s eyebrows rose again at that. Tadashi immediately noticed the look and a flash of panic surged through the man’s face. “No, I mean—no, that’s not great! I mean, I was just—uh, wondering, I mean. Let’s go out for dinner.”

 

Hiro felt his heart stopped beating for a millisecond and his mind drew blank. His face heated up as his eyes widened at that statement. Tadashi’s cheeks were red a bit too and for a while, he seemed like a normal boy asking out his crush to dinner. Hiro took a step back and tried to clear his head but it was looking futile when he couldn’t stop that surge of—of— _warmth_ —colouring his mind. Silence followed in and Hiro suddenly felt awkward of himself.

 

“Well?” Tadashi asked quietly, sounding nervous. All the confidence Hiro saw in the man’s posture slowly disappeared at each second the silence stretched on. Hiro’s mind was still trying to process the thoughts. It was too fast. This man that he had never spent a minute of his day to entertain him now wanted to take him to dinner? A date? He felt his throat constricting and for a while he felt as if he was about to faint.

 

“I—,” Hiro started but before he could form some kind of sentence, his stomach grumbled loudly, breaking the awkward stance between them.

 

“Looks like your stomach agrees with me,” he said as he chuckled, Hiro’s face reddening deeper. Hiro frowned at him and crossed his arms against his chest.

 

“I don’t need you to bring me to dinner,” he said. “I’m telling you, it’s futile. You can’t win me over.”

 

Tadashi just smiled brightly. “So, is that a yes?”

 

Hiro blinked at him for a few seconds. “Didn’t you hear me? I said—”

 

“Great!” Tadashi said as he started to walk past Hiro to the elevator. “I know this great French restaurant.” Hiro just stared at the man for a few seconds before a flicker of irritation dawned him. How dare he walk away from Hiro like that? Hiro knew that this was bait for him to follow Tadashi, but he couldn’t help it. “Unless you’re too scared for some French?”

 

Growling, Hiro stalked after Tadashi and glared at him. “I’m not coming with you because you asked,” Hiro said after a while. “I’m coming to prove that I’m not scared for some French.”

 

Tadashi just smirked at him, even though it didn’t look menacing or mocking. “Sure.” Hiro glared at him sharper and sighed loudly. Even to him, the excuse sounded lame. Somehow, deep inside, he wanted to follow Tadashi anyway. So, he didn’t say anything else. It intrigued him that Tadashi would persuade him in such a manner.

 

Seduction?

 

Well, this was definitely speaking volumes to Hiro—even though Hiro kept on reminding himself that it wouldn’t work.

 

No, not on him.

 

* * *

 

 

“I have no idea what any of these means,” Hiro deadpanned as he stared at the menu. Tadashi chuckled before he looked at Hiro.

 

“Me either,” he said as Hiro looked at him and raised one of his eyebrows.

 

“Then why the hell did we come here?” he asked as Tadashi smiled.

 

“Because this place serves the best French food I ever eaten,” he said earnestly as Hiro narrowed his eyes at Tadashi. Seconds ticked on before Hiro sighed and just resigned his fate in the hands of this man for his dinner.

 

After the waiter ordered for them, they didn’t talk. Hiro was busy looking through his phone, just checking his messages before he finally got bored and placed his phone back into his bag. He then looked at Tadashi, who was looking out of the restaurant window, elbow against the hand rest of the chair and holding his chin in place.

 

Silence stretched on between them before Hiro looked away from Tadashi and studied the place around them. It was nice and cosy looking. It doesn’t look fancy, almost bistro like and it made everyone felt welcomed. He somehow could relate the atmosphere of this restaurant with Tadashi. He could connect as to why Tadashi liked this place. And somehow, that night, Hiro found himself breaking another one of his normal norms with Tadashi.

 

“So, you come here often?”

 

He _started_ the conversation with Tadashi first.

 

Tadashi looked at Hiro and leaned into his seat, looking around the restaurant before a gentle smile stretched on his lips. “Yeah,” he said as he looked back at Hiro. “It has good food.”

 

“So you’ve said,” Hiro said as he looked at Tadashi for a few seconds. “You know, if you’re going to drag me to dinners, shouldn’t you start talking first?”

 

Tadashi chuckled before he nodded. “But you like the peace better, don’t you?”

 

Hiro felt his mind having a hard time settling with that sentence for the second time today. It seemed that Tadashi had different ways to catch him off guard. The way he would say his thoughts, it would settle deep into Hiro and somehow, the sentence would run over and over in his mind for a long time before Hiro had to push away the thoughts forcibly.

 

“You don’t even know me,” Hiro scoffed as he looked away from Tadashi. For a while now, he felt completely transparent in front of this man. It was as if he could read whatever lines Hiro was placing in between them and then, get over it.

 

Was this one of his plans?

 

“And I would like to know you,” Tadashi said. “So, why don’t you just give me a chance?”

 

“Because this isn’t real,” Hiro said as he looked back at Tadashi. “This is just a game we created. This isn’t real.” Tadashi blinked a few times before he seemed to think of a response.

 

“You think that what I’m feeling for you isn’t real?” he asked, sounding sceptical. Hiro just chuckled humourlessly before he eyed the man sharply.

 

“Tadashi,” he started. “I’m saying that whatever you’re feeling—it won’t affect me. So, the sooner you realise this, the sooner we can put this silliness behind us and just go back to the way we were before.”

 

“And that would be rivals, am I right?” Tadashi said.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro agreed but Tadashi just shook his head.

 

“You see,” Tadashi said. “That’s where we’re not on the same page. I—I can’t force you to like me, Hiro but I damn well will try to at least change whatever perspective you have about me. I really do like you. I’m not lying.”

 

Hiro looked at him carefully and it was surprising at how honest Tadashi was to Hiro. For a moment, Hiro let himself believe it. He couldn’t deny that whenever Tadashi said nice things about him he would want to smile like some idiot but then, his life was never this easy. Tadashi liking him—so out of the blue, it was never this easy and that was where Hiro refused to believe.

 

“Any new inventions you’ve been working on?” Hiro asked, changing the subject immediately. Tadashi stared at the young genius for a few seconds before he nodded, dropping the subject too.

 

“Ya,” he said. “I call him Baymax.”

 

“Baymax?” Hiro asked, feeling the name of his invention curling at the tip of his tongue like something sweet. The name sounded cuddly too. His interest perked up as he shifted in his seat. “That sounds cute.”

 

“He is,” Tadashi agreed before he looked at Hiro and grinned. “But that’s all I’m saying for now.”

 

“Why not?” Hiro said. “Scared I’ll beat you?”

 

“No,” Tadashi said he leaned against the table. “Until I know something about you, we’re not going to go there.”

 

“Hah,” Hiro scoffed. “Good luck with that.”

 

Tadashi just chuckled and for a moment, Hiro let a tiny smile to mark way on his lips. If Tadashi saw it, he didn’t say anything. Soon the food arrived and they ate, talking in between and sometimes Tadashi would ask about his favourite colour or what his favourite books were and Hiro would find himself answering honestly, sucked into this charade. Tadashi then would exchange the information with what he liked to do during weekends or what his favourite pie was.

 

By the time dinner ended and they were walking out of the restaurant after paying, Hiro had found himself actually enjoying Tadashi’s company. The shock that took over him almost had him thinking more clearly but then, he began to dissect the source of his shock. He always thought Tadashi was someone who wouldn’t spend any quality time with someone like him. Tadashi was this guy that everyone looked up to, that every girl wanted to be with and he was—he was _Tadashi_.

 

And Hiro, he never thought that he would get to be at the receiving end of his company until today. Now, he was somehow seeing why Tadashi had so many friends. He kept the silence comfortable and if a conversation strikes out between them, he would keep it going until they run out of things to say. Somehow, Hiro began to feel as if maybe—for once—he misinterpreted this man.

 

Pushing out the bet from his mind, he knew that whatever self-trait Tadashi was portraying at the moment, it was his genuine self and Hiro found himself wanting to know more. It was comfortable, Hiro agreed.

 

When he reached his apartment door, already punching the code into his security alarm, Tadashi had bid him goodbye and grinned when Hiro thanked him. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said as Hiro nodded, realising that he didn’t feel irritated for the first time in his life when he was this close to Tadashi. Tadashi grabbed Hiro’s right hand and clasped it tight before he let it go and opened his own door. He looked at Hiro one last time before he disappeared into his apartment.

 

Hiro then walked inside of his own apartment and closed the door shut. He sighed as he shook his head and decided he needed coffee. Something was surely changing inside of him and he was beginning to slip past his original goal.

 

He was confused slightly inside too.

 

“No matter,” Hiro said to himself. “It’s just until Valentine’s Day.” And after that, whatever that started between them would end. Tadashi would go ahead and fix his attention on someone else and Hiro would be going on with his own life.

 

Right.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, wellll...I don't know. I tried? I think it's a good chapter but I'm not sure if it's 'seductive' enough. Hah, like Tadashi can be seductive~ Hm, maybe he will but for now, he sounds cute to me. xD I'm glad you guys liked this plot. I was quite nervous with it actually and I'm nervous with this chapter. Also, I'm sorry for the late update. I was buys in real life, and well, you know how that is. Anyways, thank you for the kudos, comments, bookmarks and subscriptions! It means a lot to me~ Let me know what you guys think of this chapter too! Until the next one~! -Krystal
> 
> **Edited: 11/5/2015**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine~
> 
>  _3AM, I might be looking for a late night friend and baby, I can’t get you out my head, I can’t help it, I can’t help myself, no_ – 3AM (Meghan Trainor)

 

Clothes?

 

Sunglasses?

 

Wait—maybe some notebooks?

 

 _Uhm_ …

 

 _Right_ , Hiro thought as he stared at his now clustered-up bed,  _he was obviously going to be taking more than just twenty minutes to pack his bags_. The young genius sighed loudly as he rubbed his eyes. It was only for two days. It wasn’t going to be long. He didn’t know why he had this problem every time he was about to head off for a trip. It was never longer than a week and the shortest trip he had ever gone to lasted less than eight hours. He looked at his wrist watch before he looked back at the bed.

 

His thoughts slowly diverged to Tadashi, wondering what he was packing. Should he go over and ask, get some ideas on what to bring? Hiro froze at the thoughts as immediately as they barged into his head. Scowling, he pushed those ideas out of his mind. Why was he thinking of Tadashi all of a sudden? Who in the world cares what he was bringing for this trip?

 

 _Apparently the whole world minus you_ , Hiro’s mind whispered bitterly.

 

Ignoring that thought, Hiro went back to dividing his bag and pushing his clothes inside. Maybe three shirts, two pairs of jeans, a pair of slacks, a sleeveless vest, three hoodies, a cosy scarf and a jacket should do. He smiled to himself when he saw how snug his bag looked and decided to zip it closed. With that, he took out his sunglasses (it was always good to be prepared), his passport and a notebook before placing them on the bag neatly. Taking a step back, he marvelled at his work before the doorbell rang.

 

Glancing at the entrance of his bedroom, he blinked for a few times trying to figure out if someone was really ringing the bell. Seconds of silence washed in before another  _ding!_  rang through. Sighing, he looked at his bag once more and nodded, walking out of the room and heading to the front door. Punching in the security code, the red light under the handle blinked three times before turning green and a soft click resounded.

 

He opened the door and his eyes met Tadashi’s, who was standing and smiling at him. Seconds passed on before Hiro sighed and looked at him in question. “What is it?” he asked, even though his voice was lacking the amount of venom in them. Hiro mentally catalogued that and decided he had to review it later.

 

Tadashi raised his right hand that was holding onto a red plastic bag and shook it gently. “Well, I’m hoping you haven’t eaten breakfast.” Hiro raised his eyebrows as he stared at the bag. He was sure that whatever inside the bag was breakfast. Tadashi had  _bought_  him breakfast. The silliness and cliché-ness of this situation went through his mind over and over and it was beginning to sound funny. He bit down his grin and shook his head.

 

After yesterday night, Hiro had found himself thinking about their dinner more often than he liked. He had to wonder how Tadashi had kept the conversation so light and yet so informative. He was sure that Tadashi had learned a lot about him than he got to in the years they’ve known each other. The silence accompanying them was just relaxing, something that Hiro had wanted for a while now. It was also heart fluttering when Tadashi didn’t do anything else besides just keeping the conversation on and keeping his distance, as if he understood that Hiro wasn’t comfortable with him being physical.

 

And for the whole night, Hiro had found himself thinking and wondering if this was really about the game. But that thought soon vanished when he had to get back into his reality, remembering about his work and his career. He couldn’t trust Tadashi, not now. Hiro had to admit, he didn’t know what he would be feeling after Valentine’s Day if this was how Tadashi was going to— _seduce_  him.

 

There was a chance Hiro might get too used to this.

 

So, he should ignore his advances.

 

But when he looked at the man in the eyes, a genuine twinkle showed through his brown orbs, Hiro found that it was quite hard to say no. Not after knowing so much about Tadashi in return. A silent dread washed into him as he sighed. He was getting too attached already and it had only been three days.  _Twelve more days to go_ , Hiro reminded himself. And then, Tadashi would leave him.

 

“No, I was busy packing,” Hiro said as Tadashi grinned widely.

 

“Well, want to eat breakfast together?”

 

Hiro pondered the question and just raised his eyebrows. Tadashi raised his own eyebrows back before rolling his eyes at the sceptical genius. “You want to come into my house,” Hiro deadpanned. Tadashi just shrugged.

 

“Or we could go to the roof to eat,” he said. Silence echoed between them as Hiro felt a smirk gliding on his face.

 

“Roof?” he asked. “I thought it was unauthorised. The Great Tadashi breaking rules? The world is going to end!” Hiro mocked out as Tadashi just sighed, even though it didn’t come out annoyed. In fact, the man looked amused.

 

“Well, if they thought ‘The Great Tadashi’ is nothing but a good boy, then they don’t know me at all,” Tadashi said as Hiro felt his eyebrows making another climb upwards on his forehead. Maybe he should be careful of that. He didn’t want to have permanent Vulcan eyebrows. Hiro sighed internally. He should stop watching too many Star Trek episodes.

 

Back to reality, Hiro didn’t want to go on rooftops. The truth was he was scared of heights. It wasn’t something he let everyone in about and Tadashi was certainly not going to know about this. But if it wasn’t the rooftop, it was inside of his house. He felt like his privacy would be breached if he let Tadashi in now. But when he thought back to the rooftop, he reluctantly moved out of the way from the door and opened it wider. “Just, come in.”

 

 Tadashi didn’t move in though, instead, he looked at Hiro and smiled. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yes,” Hiro said as he nodded. “I’m sure, Tadashi. Come in.”

 

“Eager,” Tadashi teased as Hiro shot him a glare.

 

“I have an urge to shut this door to your face, Tadashi,” Hiro gritted out. “Either you come in or you can taste my door for breakfast.” Tadashi immediately raised both of his hands in the air as a sign of surrender before he walked inside, Hiro closing the door behind him until the faint click of the security alarm broke the silence. Hiro gestured at Tadashi’s shoes, asking him to take it off non-verbally and headed to the kitchen. Tadashi followed him afterwards, the plastic bag making wind-like crinkling noises every time he took a step forward.

 

“What did you buy?” Hiro asked as he turned his back to Tadashi and opened the cabinet doors, taking out the plates. Tadashi placed the bag of food on the counter and smiled.

 

“French toast.”

 

Hiro’s fingers stopped momentarily from picking the plates up and looked at Tadashi, eyeing him for a while before he shook his head. “You have an unhealthy obsession with everything French,” Hiro muttered as he took the two plates and closed the cabinet doors.

 

Tadashi stilled for a moment before he laughed and nodded. “I suppose I do,” he said.

 

With that done, Hiro placed the plates on the counter and served their food. Sitting opposite of each other at the kitchen table, Hiro silently ate his food, realising that it doesn’t taste so bad. It was actually quite good. Tadashi was humming a bit as he ate his food, the silence lingering between them was comfortable. The young genius took this opportunity to re-evaluate his thoughts about this man in front of him.

 

Tadashi was like a whirlwind, something that nobody could find it in them to control. Hiro had always hated the man and yet, here he was, eating the breakfast bought by Tadashi and letting the man into his house. That didn’t sound so convincing about his hate for Tadashi, he thought to himself. He was startled slightly at how fast Tadashi had turned Hiro’s perspective of the man that was once nothing more than an irritating presence for him into someone who was carefree and a good company to have. It was as if everything that Tadashi did for Hiro, it would shed some light under all the negativity Hiro had accumulated about the older man.

 

“This doesn’t mean I like you,” Hiro sounded after a while. He needed to remind himself that this wasn’t what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to be cold and reserved. Tadashi was breaking past his barriers quickly than he intended to. They still had twelve more days and he needed to keep this up. He would not let Tadashi catch him and drag him down to a place where Hiro had irrational fears for.

 

Tadashi looked up from his plate and smiled at Hiro. “I know,” he said as he went back to eating. Hiro blinked at him for a few seconds before he looked back at his own plate. The man looked as if he knew that that was all he was going to get from Hiro. He didn’t push him nor did he demand to know what Hiro thought of him now. “So, what are you bringing to London?” Tadashi started after a few silent moments. Hiro shook away all his previous thoughts about Tadashi so he could focus on getting back to his old self.

 

He snorted inside when he reminded himself of a twelve-year-old girl with a pathetic crush on the hot boy. Not that he had any crush on Tadashi in the first place, it was just this feeling. He needed to actually stay away from him for a few days and try to get his feet back on the ground. “What do you think I’m bringing to London?” Hiro asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the man. Tadashi hummed out a response before he leaned his elbows on the table and sighed.

 

“Well, you never know when it comes to Hiro,” he said cheekily, gaining a scowl from the young genius.

 

“Very funny,” he said. “It’s not like I’m going to bring some laser beam to evaporate you into thin air every time you get annoying.” Tadashi looked at Hiro for a few seconds as Hiro sighed. “And no, I don’t have one built. Though, now that I think about it—”

 

“I’m bringing some books,” Tadashi cut his trail of thoughts off. Hiro looked at the man and for a minute there, he thought he could read the man. A creepy smile worked up on his mental-face. If he could read Tadashi easier, maybe he could try and worm his way out of— _whatever_  this was. A shuddering thought then pulsed through his mind, cackling at him evilly, making him realise that he was actually looking forward to cataloguing the man’s faces.

 

The dread weighed heavily in his chest. Panic rushed through his mind and for a fleet second, he wanted to get up and run away. He was getting attached to Tadashi. “Hiro?” Tadashi questioned. Hiro got up slowly before clearing his throat.

 

“I, uh, gotta go,” he said as he picked up his plate and moved to the sink. “I have to meet Gogo and Wasabi before the flight and I think you should go,” he said quickly. Silence stretched between them before Tadashi got up, taking the plates and placing them in the sink.

 

“Yeah, okay,” Tadashi said as he smiled at Hiro. With a nod, the man walked away from Hiro. “I’ll see you later then.” Hiro followed Tadashi out before pressing onto the security code and opened the door. Hiro wanted to make some smart remark about how Tadashi will not be seeing him later due to—something—but the young genius was too freaked out about what he was feeling to talk.

 

Seconds after the door closed shut and Tadashi was gone, Hiro’s heart started to slow down and he took in a shaky deep breath.

 

Just— _breathe_.

 

* * *

 

 

“ _Uh_ - _huh_ ,” Gogo said as she eyed Hiro carefully, raising the cup of coffee to her lips. Hiro raised his eyebrows at her as he looked back down to his smartphone before clicking the screen off and placing it beside him. “And— _you_ —let him into your apartment?  _Twice_?”

 

Hiro sighed loudly, leaning into his seat. Wasabi choked into his ice mocha and looked at Hiro, blinking. The soft coffee and caffeine smell flooded the café and Hiro always loved how it was close to his apartment, reminding him of his aunt’s café along the way. He had called his friends to talk to them before he had to go. Gogo apparently had heard about the current development between Hiro and Tadashi from Wasabi. She was smirking as she crossed her arms against her chest.

 

When Hiro had reluctantly told her about what had happened to him this morning, her smirk turned into a full blown grin meanwhile Wasabi looked at him indecorously for a moment before snorting at him. The thing was he needed to talk to his friends because of this. The truth was he was beginning to—to— _like_  Tadashi’s presence. It was so fast, how he had managed to change from being an annoying menace to something comfortable to be with.

 

It was scary actually and Hiro knew that this was all to seduce him but then he began to think, would Tadashi still be the same after Valentine’s Day? Should he even take the chance to find out?

 

His mind told him that he shouldn’t.

 

“Well, he bought breakfast,” Hiro said silently as he looked outside of the café windows.

 

“You like him, don’t you?” Gogo asked as she leaned against the table. “Hiro, you  _like_  him.”

 

“I  _don’t_ ,” Hiro said automatically. Looking at Gogo in the eyes, he took in a deep breath and sighed. “I don’t.”

 

“But you let him—do these things for you,” Gogo said.

 

“I can’t just tell him to stop,” Hiro said but he knew full well that Gogo wasn’t buying it. “Look, he said he would seduce me until Valentine’s Day. And then what? Gogo, and then he would hop along to Honey again once he sees that I’m not budging. It’s going to end like this.”

 

“I don’t see why you can’t just enjoy the ride,” Wasabi said as he looked at the young genius in the eyes. “It’s like you keep on telling yourself you won’t like him.”

 

“That’s because I don’t,” Hiro said exasperatedly. “And now, I’m going to be spending two days with that man and just—it’s going to get a hell lot worse.”

 

“Worse than buying you dinner and breakfast?” Gogo asked, her voice ringing out amused and for a minute there, Hiro almost slammed his head against the table. He should’ve known letting Gogo into this mess wasn’t such a good idea but he couldn’t deny that she knew what was best either. At the scowl on Hiro’s face, Gogo finally laughed, her smile growing wider. “Hiro, admit it. It’s been what? Three days? He’s getting to you.”

 

“He looks like a real gentleman too,” Wasabi added, only to earn a glare from Hiro.

 

“Guys,” Hiro started. “I don’t like him. I just—this isn’t real! It’s a bet! I’m not going to lose this.”

 

“Hiro,” Gogo said. “You are  _already_  losing. You let him  _buy_  you dinner and breakfast, for God’s sakes! How is that a way of showing that you—you—dislike him?”

 

Hiro stilled his fingers from reaching to his forehead and rubbing it angrily. Somehow, he knew that what he was doing was contradicting to what he was feeling. To be honest, he doesn’t know what he was feeling half of the time. For now, all he had to do was ignore this suddenly fluttering heart every time he saw Tadashi.

 

“I feel like I’m in some rom-com,” Hiro muttered as Wasabi chuckled.

 

“Tadashi does have the moves, huh?” he asked as Hiro kicked his leg from under the table.

 

“You know, just for the record,” Hiro said as he stood up and sighed, picking up his sunglasses that he had brought along. Wearing it against his eyes, he continued, “I’ll prove to you guys that I don’t like him. When I come back from London—the first thing that would come out from my mouth is ‘I hate Tadashi’ and you’ll never see it coming.”

 

Gogo just snorted at that but she nodded, crossing her arms against her chest. “Oh, sure. Fine.  _Good_   _luck_.”

 

“As much as I would love to support you, man,” Wasabi said after a while. “I doubt that you would even think of the words  _Tadashi_  and  _hate_  in the same sentence after this trip. If there’s one thing we know of Tadashi since our first term together, it’s that he’s a fighter.”

 

Hiro rolled his eyes from behind the shades as he huffed out. “Yeah, right. Whatever, I have to be at the airport soon. See you guys.”

 

And with that, he grabbed his smartphone, eyed his insufferable friends one last time and walked out. His mind was more clouded than before as he sighed loudly, exiting the café. They had a point and he knew that he should keep his priorities straight. This—with Tadashi—it wasn’t something important at the moment.

 

* * *

 

Hiro had settled inside of the plane, sitting next to Tadashi and near the window, sighing tiredly. His nerves were jittering as he looked outside of the window. Sure, now he was fine but when the plane was up high, he was going to drown in fear. Music always helped him take his mind off and it somehow usually kept the fear at bay when he looked outside of the window. So, he plugged his earphones into the plane's music player and waited until the plane took off to plug them in his ears. Tadashi settled next to him and silence washed in between them as Tadashi looked through his phone before shutting it off. Hiro texted his aunt one last time saying he was about to take off any moment now and shut it off as well. With that, he looked out of the window, trying to ignore that Tadashi was mere few inches away from him.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Hiro mumbled darkly. Henry had actually bought two tickets next to each other like this. Really, Henry was one of the worst and the best agents in the world. Hiro shook his head a bit before the flight attendant decided to instruct the passengers to wear the seat belt and shut off all electronic devices. They were about to take off.

 

“London,” Tadashi muttered as Hiro glanced at him from the windows and decided to ignore him. Soon, the flight stabilised in the sky and they were allowed to take off their seatbelts. Drinks were arranged for them and Hiro wondered why Henry didn’t just book them a first class flight. Snorting at that thought, he drank the plain water. Henry was always the cheapskates and well, it sometimes made his trips a bit too budget-tight. Hiro then placed the earphones inside of his ears and pressed on the play button, his nerves finally calming down as he listened to the music. 

 

Once again, the silence filled between them and for a while, Hiro thought that Tadashi had ended up sleeping or something. Looking over, he found Tadashi just closing his eyes and resting a bit. Hiro didn’t know what drew him to stare but he did. He examined Tadashi closer than he could in these past days or years. The way his eyebrows were creased deeply like he was in a deep thought meanwhile his forehead smoothed out. His skin was creamy and pale at the same time that Hiro wondered sometimes if it would feel soft if he touched them.

 

Jolting out from his thoughts, he felt his cheeks reddening as he blinked.  _What the hell did_ —but before he could even comprehend any coherent thoughts, Tadashi opened his eyes and looked at Hiro, catching him in the act. He stared at Hiro for a few seconds before a smile carved on his face. Hiro’s heart stirred and he felt something warm once again flooding through.

 

“You’re staring,” Tadashi said quietly, as if he was scared that something between them would break if he spoke louder. Taking off one of the earphones from his ears, Hiro felt the heat around his cheeks intensifying before he shifted in his seat and broke the eye contact. He didn’t say anything else before he turned himself away from Tadashi and looked outside of the window. The clouds covered everything beautifully and for a while, he saw the wide landscape of the blue ocean. “Hiro,” he called out with the same tone, causing Hiro’s eyes widen a bit.

 

“What?” Hiro asked as his voice sounded rough to his own ears.

 

“Talk to me, can you?” Tadashi asked. Hiro looked at Tadashi for a while before he raised his eyebrows. Tadashi just gave him a weak smile. “I’m scared of planes.” That soft revelation made Hiro blink a few times. It forced something weird into his mind as he unravelled the thoughts. It was strange how Tadashi sounded so open to Hiro, as if he trusted the young genius about everything.

 

And it made him feel awkward because he wasn’t used to this much of—trust. And besides, he didn't know how to handle with fear of heights properly too and Tadashi was asking for his help? 

 

“I see,” Hiro said, coming off a bit short. Tadashi sighed as he leaned into his seat and looked away, something close to defeat washed into his eyes. Hiro suddenly sat up straighter, alarm ringing into his head at that. “Why me?” Hiro finally asked after a while, catching the man off guard. Tadashi looked at him from the corner of his eyes before he looked at him completely. This conversation would be deep enough for his mind to be occupied from the thought that they were high off the ground. Hopefully it would work. 

 

Hiro could just turn away and mind his own business, he could just ignore Tadashi and his fears because in all honesty, it didn’t concern him. But Hiro saw that look before. He saw them in his own younger self when his parents died and for a while, he wondered if Tadashi had gone through something similar. And that—that sign of weakness from the everyday sunny, annoying and just being something etching to hope Tadashi, it was something new and Hiro once again found himself wondering if he had shown that look to anyone else before.

 

“Why you?” Tadashi asked, calling Hiro out from his mind. “Why I like you, you mean?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said, turning to look at Tadashi in every way to get his full attention. “Tadashi, why me?”

 

“Why  _not_  you?” Tadashi asked as he shrugged. “Hiro, why not you?”

 

“You don’t know me,” Hiro shot back. “Sure, we’ve talked once in a while, we knew the basics about each other but that’s all. You never showed any interest in me, Tadashi. How am I supposed to—believe you?”

 

“I think,” Tadashi started. “It’s yourself that you couldn’t believe in. You always have this thought in your head saying you’re never good enough but really—you’re more than enough.” Hiro’s eyes widened at that and for a moment, he shifted away, his mind screaming at how easily he was read. But then, Tadashi locked his eyes with Hiro and smiled. “You’re scared to let someone in. I’m not sure why but—Hiro, if you don’t let anyone in, how are you going to be happy?”

 

“I  _am_  happy,” Hiro hissed out, sounding defensive. “I— _You_  don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe it’s you but that isn’t me. You sound as if you’ve observed me and that’s creepy, mind you.”

 

Tadashi chuckled before he sighed. “I always liked you, Hiro,” he said slowly. “I always did. You caught my attention. But—every time I tried to go near you, you snap at me with sharp comments and you act defensive so I thought you aren’t comfortable with me. But then, I saw you. You know, I saw you and you changed my mind.”

 

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows at that. “ _Saw_   _me_?”

 

“I saw you,” Tadashi said as he looked away. “And I still see you.”

 

That sentence struck into his heart like a bullet, aimed right in the middle. Silence stretched on before Tadashi looked back at Hiro. “And I’m sure, now, you finally see me, right?”

 

Hiro snapped away from Tadashi and looked to the window. His heart thundered and he felt compromised. How could someone read him so well? “You’re wrong,” he said quietly to Tadashi as he continued to stare out from the window. “I don’t see you. And I sure don’t need anyone else to see me.” With that, he plugged his earphones into his ears and closed his eyes, letting his nerves to settle away and his thoughts once again running through his mind. 

 

* * *

 

London was just breath-taking, Hiro had concluded as they passed by the Big Ben. The streetlights lit up the city as the night rolled into view. They took a cab and headed to their hotel. After the awkward ending of that conversation, Hiro had shot down every other conversation that followed, keeping it simple and sometimes a tad uncomfortable. Even during the cab ride, Hiro had looked outside of the windows to the cool nights of London instead of bothering with Tadashi. Tadashi didn’t make any move to correct him either, instead, he let the situation to stale on until they had reached the hotel.

 

The hotel was big and tall—probably a bit too fancy; ‘posh’, Hiro muttered gleefully in his mind as they walked inside. The glass door slid open and he could already feel everything European about this place sinking into his skin and clinging onto him tight. To think that Fred had moved here, it was sparking some envy in his heart. Speaking of Fred, he was already waiting for them at the airport, grinning wide when he saw them.

 

He didn’t bring his car, instead, he had booked a cab for them. Along the ride, Fred updated on about what he was doing here and asked about how they were doing, despite everything successful about their lives. Hiro was glad that Tadashi had left out the part where he was currently ‘courting’ Hiro. Fred also seemed to have developed a bit of an accent, making him sound slightly classy whenever he spoke some words.

 

Once at the hotel and he had gotten the card for his room, Fred had bid them goodnight and told them that he would be around in the morning. “I gotta go, man,” he said as he looked at Tadashi and Hiro at the lobby. “My parents are coming home early tonight for some dinner. You know the drill. Fredzilla will meet you all tomorrow morning.”

 

“Yeah, okay,” Hiro said as he sighed. Rubbing the back of his neck, he eyed the elevator. “I’m tired actually. I think I’m jetlagged.”

 

Fred chuckled before nodding. “See you guys,” he said as he patted on Tadashi’s shoulder and walked away. With that, Hiro stared at his friend for a few seconds before heading to the elevator. It was great that at least, their rooms weren’t on the same floor. Hiro wanted some space between Tadashi and him and he was going to get it. He needed to revisit the conversation he had with Tadashi in the plane and he needed to re-evaluate everything about himself.

 

Tadashi followed quietly, somehow not saying anything more. Tadashi actually looked relived once the plane touched down. Hiro felt a crawl of pity for the man but he didn’t let it show. He was feeling squeamish inside and for the first time in his life, he felt that he  _liked_  that feeling. It freaked him out to be honest, so he bottled it all up inside and hid it.

 

Once the elevator stopped at Hiro’s level, he glanced at Tadashi for a moment. “Uh, well, night,” Hiro said as he walked out of the elevator.

 

“Night,” Tadashi said tiredly as he smiled at Hiro. With that, the metal doors slid closed and Hiro blinked for a few times, wondering what else was he expecting Tadashi to do. Hiro felt the disappointment quelling inside and he didn’t understand why. Shaking his head off from the thoughts, he quickly searched out for his room and finally got into his room. Once the door shut closed, he leaned against it and sighed.

 

* * *

 

The next morning was hectic. The Young Scientist Convention was about to start at noon and Hiro had woken up groggily at ten in the morning. If it wasn’t for Fred bouncing into the room like some child, Hiro would’ve overslept. Tadashi followed Fred inside casually as he raised his eyebrows when he saw Hiro crawling out from the bed sheet and sitting up. “What time?” Hiro croaked out, his throat constricting painfully, wondering why he didn’t get something to drink before going to sleep last night. His stomach also felt awfully empty, reminding him that he didn’t eat any dinner either. Fred rolled his eyes at Hiro before he sighed.

 

“Almost ten, my man,” he said. “We gotta head out. Your agent will be there at the convention.” Hiro nodded, his mind still hazy as he climbed out of his bed.

 

"How did you even get into my room?" Hiro asked, after realising that only he had the card. Fred just grinned.

 

"Henry said I would get a spare just in case."

 

"In case?" Hiro murmured but he didn't ask any more. Instead, he just wanted to wash his face or something. However, his coordination still wasn’t in its best shape as he tripped over nothing and fell on the ground, flat on his chest. The pain shot through his body as he groaned. That certainly had woken him up.

 

He felt his cheeks reddening as he sat up, his chest feeling painful and numb. He looked at Fred and to Tadashi, who was smiling warily at him. “Are you—”

 

“Yes,” Hiro snapped annoyed as he stood up and stumbled past those two to the bathroom. Not before, he grabbed his clothes from inside of his suit bag. He heard Fred’s quite laughter as he slammed the door to his bathroom shut. He always hated the mornings but he knew that he should’ve gotten used to it. He sighed as he stared at himself in the mirror. He felt his heart thundering once again in his chest loudly when he realised that Tadashi had seen him in this— _state_.

 

His hair which was usually the good type of messy was now nothing more than a monstrous mess like some bird’s nest perched on his head. His face was pale and there was something that looked like a crease on his right cheek. His eyes were bloodshot red and his lips looked chapped. Groaning to himself, he looked away from the mirror to the sink. He felt cautious all of a sudden and usually, he didn’t care how he looked in front of anyone. But lately, with Tadashi—he needed to keep himself from showing any weakness and just then, that was exactly what he had done.

 

Sighing, he showered, cleaned himself and walked out of the bathroom looking like his neat self again. Tadashi was looking through his phone as he leaned against the wall meanwhile Fred was looking out of the windows, a smile marking on his face. “Let’s go,” Hiro said, catching their attention. Fred grinned meanwhile Tadashi looked up from his phone and nodded.

 

“We’ll get you something to eat before heading to the convention,” Fred said as Hiro snorted. He licked his lips, tasting the minty breath before walking to his suit bag and shoved his pyjamas inside it. He grabbed his sunglasses and sighed.

 

With that, he walked out of the room, ignoring Tadashi’s looks on him. He suddenly found that he couldn’t look the man in the eyes and for once after a while, he was feeling— _shy_. Hiro shuddered at that thought as they entered the elevator. “London’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Fred asked as he leaned against the elevator wall.

 

Hiro grinned and nodded. “At night, it’s beautiful.”

 

“Especially the Ferris wheel,” Tadashi commented.

 

“Just you wait till’ you see their tourist sites,” Fred said. “It’s really great. It gets too cold at night though but when it’s day, it’s quite nice.”

 

“It’s still cold,” Hiro added as he walked out of the elevator. Fred nodded in agreement.

 

“But that’s one of the perks living here,” he said after a moment making Tadashi to chuckle.

 

“How’s the family dinner?” Hiro asked as Fred shrugged.

 

“Eh, you know,” he said as he walked out of the hotel, his car already waiting for them at the entrance. Hiro took the backseat immediately meanwhile Tadashi sat next to Fred. They made a small stop to get something for Hiro to eat before they went ahead to the convention.

 

The first thoughts he had when he saw the building was that it was definitely tall. It was tall and it was quite modern. Once entering the building, he saw many scientists and famous lecturers cluttering the hall. There were also many people buzzing past the reception desk and suddenly, a few seconds after they had gone in, everything and everyone inside went dead silent. Apparently, they were recognised here. Hiro had to bring back all the ‘fake-smiles’ into the view, quietly walking past the crowds as the convention started. There were some citizens and tourists there too that were interested in engineering and research, gliding through to meet their favourite scientists and inventors.

 

Fred disappeared somewhere in the middle of the event meanwhile Hiro was stuck at the corner with a group of teenagers surrounding him, asking him questions that sometimes had some relevance to his theories and some—not so much. Hiro answered the questions, hoping to sound sincere because no matter what happened at the end of the day, he wanted to share what he had found to the world. He managed to avoid some personal questions that didn’t serve any purpose and when Tadashi finally came in the view, he couldn’t help but to sigh in relief.

 

The group of teenagers disbanded as they smiled at Tadashi and left Hiro alone. “Too many people?” Tadashi asked as he smiled. Hiro just gave him a tiny smile back before nodding, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Where  _is_  Henry? He said he would be here,” Hiro said as Tadashi shrugged, standing next to Hiro.

 

“I don’t know,” he answered as they looked through the crowd. Just then, Hiro spotted someone walking towards them. The man smiled as he finally reached them, a woman next to him as she smiled warmly at them both. Tadashi grinned at him before extending his hand out and shook the man’s hand. Hiro had to stare at the man for a few seconds before the face clicked in his mind.

 

“Professor Callaghan!” Hiro said as the man nodded.

 

“Hiro Hamada,” he said as Hiro grinned. “And Tadashi Hamada,” the man said, a twinkle in his eyes made Tadashi chuckle.

 

“No matter what you heard,” Tadashi said.

 

“We’re not brothers or related any way,” Hiro continued and the woman standing next to the professor giggled.

 

“And yet you two finish each other sentences,” she said as she eyed Hiro and looked at Tadashi.

 

“Ah, this is my daughter,” Callaghan said as he patted her shoulder. “Abigail Callaghan.”

 

“We meet again, Tadashi,” she said as she smiled at him before she looked at Hiro and extended her hand. “And this, I presume, is our first meeting, Hiro Hamada.” Hiro shook her hand back as he smiled and took a step back.

 

“Ah, Hiro, just call me Hiro,” he said as she nodded.

 

“And Abigail, to you too,” she said. “I’m a fan of your work,” she said after a minute. Hiro couldn’t help but to shrug helplessly before he muttered a thank you out. “I also have always enjoyed Tadashi’s discoveries since long ago. You keep on surprising us, Tadashi.”

 

“Well, it’s not always me,” Tadashi said as he smiled. Hiro just hummed out as he looked at their interactions.

 

“Yes, you two are really great. Especially your new invention, Tadashi,” she said after a minute. Tadashi grinned at her and for a moment, Hiro felt his eyebrows climbing upwards. Abigail knew about Tadashi’s latest invention? Baymax, Hiro recalled in his mind.

 

“You know about Baymax?” Hiro asked as Abigail looked at him from Tadashi and nodded.

 

“Oh, you told Hiro about him?” she asked as she looked at Tadashi. Tadashi just shook his head, smiling like an idiot.

 

“No, he doesn’t know about it,” he said. “I just told him that my invention’s name is Baymax.”

 

“It’s really going to be a great invention,” Callaghan joined in and for a moment, Hiro felt as if he was missing something. How in the world did those two know about Baymax? Hiro picked up that Abigail knew Tadashi before this. Maybe they haven’t seen each other for a long time or something, but then again—they also seemed to have kept in touch if they knew about Baymax. Hiro felt something weird lurching in his chest at that before he shook it off.

 

“It’s going to help a lot of people too,” she said before she placed a hand on Tadashi’s right shoulder and squeezed it. Tadashi’s smile dimmed a bit before he sighed and nodded. Hiro furrowed his eyebrows at that as he silently listened to their conversation. Something about the way she smiled at Tadashi made him feel—irritated. It was as if she knew Tadashi from within inside and Tadashi doesn’t seem too appalled by it.

 

Judging from the way he let her hand linger on his shoulder.

 

Hiro tensed up at that thought and sighed. He was beginning to act weird. He just then realised that Tadashi hadn’t done anything for him today. He blinked at that thought before he looked back at Abigail, still talking to Tadashi and her hand now rested on his arm. Hiro didn’t want to admit that they looked good when he took a step back to picture them—but they did. Some kind of dark wave washed in him and before he knew it, he excused himself and decided to find Fred.

 

Tadashi just nodded at Hiro and continued on with the conversation with the both of them and that made Hiro frown. He was frowning because of many things; like the fact that Tadashi didn’t look at him or even glance at him when he left, like the fact that he was actually wondering to why he, himself, was irritated. The confusion filled in between the spaces before he found Fred, laughing and talking to someone. That said someone finally left and Hiro took his place and stood in front of Fred.

 

“Woah, you look like someone killed your cat,” Fred said as Hiro rolled his eyes.

 

“Trust me, I don’t mind someone killing Mochi,” Hiro said. “That cat hates me anyway.”

 

“Harsh, man,” Fred said as he touched his chest. “I apparently like that cat.”

 

Hiro chuckled at that as he sighed, staring away from Fred. “You heard?” he asked as Fred raised his eyebrows. After a few seconds, realisation dawned his face and he grinned. “So, you did?” Hiro asked as he nodded.

 

“Man, I can’t believe it,” he said. “You and Tadashi?”

 

“We’re not,” Hiro immediately corrected him. “No, just no.”

 

“Why not?” Fred asked. Hiro looked at Fred and decided to bite his tongue from lashing out in irritation.

 

“You know exactly why,” Hiro said under his breath. “Tadashi is not—no, I don’t even like guys like that! And besides, he has Honey—and apparently  _Abigail_ ,” Hiro said, hoping that he didn’t sound so bitter.

 

“Dude,” Fred started. “Don’t tell me you didn’t feel anything for him,” he said after a while. Hiro just frowned at that before he sighed.

 

“No,” he said, even though he found that denial a bit empty. “Of course I don’t feel anything for him!”

 

Fred remained silent for a while as Hiro looked at him, carefully trying to find something that would give him some clue about Tadashi. “You talked to him, right? So, what is the motive of this?” he asked as Fred sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

 

“Sorry, man,” he said. “That’s…I’m only willing to tell you if he tells you. Hiro, just give him a chance.”

 

“Chance?” Hiro asked. “I—you know exactly why I can’t. I don’t believe in fate or destiny or something so trivial as—you know,  _love_.”

 

“I sometimes don’t understand you, man,” Fred said with a quirk of his lips. “But you’ll see. You’re wrong.”

 

“Sure,” Hiro said as he snorted. “Maybe when the hell freezes over.”

 

Somehow Hiro found that grin on Fred’s face scary.

 

“Oh, hell will turn into a popsicle.”

 

* * *

 

By the time the convention ended, it was almost seven in the evening. By that time, Hiro wanted nothing more than to drown in his bed. But then, his curiosity took over. The night in London, it was something he didn’t want to miss. So, when Fred told them to just take a stroll in the night of London, Hiro couldn’t refuse. At the end of it all, Fred left them with a promise to see them tomorrow, leaving Hiro with Tadashi, walking quietly down the sidewalk, heading to any restaurant that they could get their eyes on.

 

Hiro felt the coldness prickling through his skin as he shoved his hands into his hoodie, enjoying the warmth inside. “So, what do you want to eat?” Tadashi asked as he looked past the shops. Hiro shrugged, not in any mood to talk to Tadashi after what happened back there. Tadashi looked at the young genius from the corner of his eyes before raising his eyebrows. “Hiro?”

 

“I don’t know,” Hiro said sharply. “Just whatever’s fine.”

 

“Whatever’s…fine?” Tadashi asked, sounding slightly concerned. Hiro ignored him and he found the irritation bubbling through when he thought back to Abigail. And how she sounded as if she had known Tadashi’s deepest, darkest secrets. Hiro sighed as he felt his breath making a puff around his lips before evaporating into thin air. “Are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine,” Hiro said as he continued on walking. “I’m not even hungry. You can eat if you want. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, Hiro was about to walk away. However before he could take another step forward, Tadashi had grabbed his right arm and stilled him.

 

“Hiro, obviously something’s not fine,” Tadashi said as he tried to look Hiro in the face. Hiro avoided the eye contact and tried to pull his arm off.

 

“Could you please let me go?” he asked tightly.

 

“Hiro, come on,” Tadashi said softly. “What happened this time?”

 

“Nothing,” Hiro said exasperatedly. “I’m just not hungry. What’s it to you?”

 

“I just,” Tadashi began but stopped when Hiro snatched his arm back. “You’re testy all of a sudden ever since the convention. Did I—did I do something wrong?”

 

“Whatever,” he said as he looked away. “Why can’t we just drop this?”

 

“Right, so I did do something,” Tadashi said slowly. Hiro kept quiet as he mentally scowled at the thought of him and Abigail. Hiro didn’t know why he was feeling so irritated of it but he did. He didn’t like the image of them two together. Something about it just didn’t make Hiro feel—right. Tadashi looked at Hiro a few seconds before he sighed and shoved his hand through his jeans pocket, dragging something out. He dangled the small blue-neon item in his hand before he looked at Hiro. “Hey, I got you something.”

 

Hiro looked at Tadashi for a second before looking down to his hand. His eyes grew wide as he saw a neon-blue letter, engraved in Japanese. Hiro looked at the item for a few seconds before he gently took it and looked at the engraving. It spelt ‘Hiro Hamada’ and suddenly, he felt a tight lump forming in his throat. It reminded him of his family and even though he still spoke Japanese somewhere in the back of his mind, he rarely did because whenever he tried, he remembered about his parents.

 

“I engraved it for you, you know,” Tadashi said. “I know, it’s too early for these things but—I just saw this neon-blue plate and I just thought—well, I hope you can read Japanese.” Hiro looked at the man carefully in the eyes as his eyes felt watery.

 

“You—you speak Japanese?” he asked as Tadashi shrugged.

 

“Sure,” he said as he sighed. “But you know, I never really practised but it is in my bloodline.” A few seconds of silence went on before Hiro clutched the item in his palm. “So, I take it that you like it.”

 

“You—I don’t understand you sometimes,” Hiro said quietly as he sighed, willing the tears back. The images of his parents washed up in his mind and everything about Abigail and the convention drifted away and died. To think Tadashi had done something like this, it pinned something deep in Hiro’s chest. “You’re so irritating at one moment and then the next, you’re all this—this sweet thing on me.”

 

“Hey,” Tadashi said as he smiled. “I have to start somewhere.” After a beat, he added, “I’m sorry though, whatever I did back there.”

 

“No,” Hiro said quickly as the irritating thoughts of Abigail and he vanished from the back of his mind and he felt soft again. He quickly had forgotten about his annoyance and about this bet. He quickly began to feel comfortable around Tadashi again. Something inside of his heart bloomed a bit as he smiled at Tadashi for the first time. Tadashi seemed to be taken aback at that before he grinned out. “It’s not your fault.”

 

“Okay,” he said before he pointed to a restaurant. “Want to get something to eat?”

 

Hiro nodded, tucking that keychain in his hoodie and followed Tadashi. Once again, he found himself swept away by this force that Tadashi brought around him and his hatred—it seemed almost non-existent. For the night, he decided he would forget about it. For a while, he wanted to enjoy this. He felt like his emotions were swirling around. One second, he hated him, he hated everything surrounding this man and the next, Tadashi would do something considerate and he found himself forgetting about what angered him the most.

 

It was as if Tadashi knew what to find in him, like he knew what unsettled Hiro and he would do anything to mend that. And so far, Hiro couldn’t help but to realise that it worked. Watching the man from the corner of his eyes, he felt the warmth spreading and intensifying. Touching his chest absent-mindedly, a dash of fear also crawled into his heart.

 

 _What was happening to him_?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, I apologise for the very late update. Again, real life, you know the drill. Okay, so I hope you guys like this chapter. I tried, I really did. I also failed to describe the beauty London is--mainly because the only glimpse of London I had was from too much British series. /sighs\ I hope you guys enjoyed it anyways. I don't know if it makes sense, but ya. 
> 
> Oh! I also made a tumblr! [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/)  
> You guys can follow me there to check out what else fandom I'm obsessed with. And I guess I usually love to see what you guys like too~ I also do fan arts and stuff...but I haven't found the nerve to post anything yet. xD So, mostly, it's reblogs and notes on my favourite fandoms and slash. I also have a LiveJournal account now. You guys can friend me there if you have one! I'll post my other shy fan fictions there, fan arts and simply, updates onto what I have been doing with my life. I would love it if you guys would interact with me in Tumblr (if you have one) or on LiveJournal (if you have one as well). [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)
> 
> Hey, the more friends, the better, right~? xD Anyways, with that done! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter again. I also want to thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments, subs, kudos and bookmarks. Love you guys! Let me know what you guys think here too~! With that, until the next chappie! -Krystal
> 
> **Edited: 11/5/2015**


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine~

 

 

 

Second day in London and they were leaving this afternoon. Hiro sighed as he looked around his room and made sure he didn’t leave anything behind. He wished he could stay longer but time was exclusively limited on his side and he had to go back to finish up whatever projects he had on hold. He shrugged his shoulders to get the muscles to relax before nodding. At the end of the day, he found out that Henry couldn’t make it to London despite that he promised Hiro he would. But Hiro couldn’t blame him.

 

It was only two days and besides, he had managed well enough without Henry nosing in. With that, he walked to his bed and grabbed his bag, looking around his room one last time and smiled. Then, he grabbed the room card and made way to the door. With one swipe, the door opened and Hiro walked out, shutting off everything in the room and closing the door. The hallway was silent as he took a few steps, walking away from the room.

 

As he waited for the elevator doors to open, he let his mind swing back to what happened last night. His mind was so easily empty nowadays and his feelings were jagged up. He hated what he was feeling at the moment. Sure, maybe he was getting used to Tadashi’s presence but—he wasn’t really ready for anything as far as this. Everybody else assumed that their banter and rivalry was to be taken as something more when in reality, it wasn’t.

 

After Valentine’s Day, what would happen to him? Tadashi would give up and he would leave. It was the reality speaking and Hiro had learned ever since he was young to never expect anything that was beyond his reach. There was no such thing as hope or faith or anything remotely fantasy-like in where he was living. Tadashi—he was everything that Hiro didn’t believe in.

 

As he furrowed his eyebrows, he began to contemplate further to what he thought about this. If—if he really liked Hiro, Tadashi would’ve dropped this bet. Would he drop the bet though? Woo him properly? Hiro didn’t know why his heart constricted at that, realising once again that this was nothing more than a play. A scene from a movie that was waiting for an end.

 

It would end one day.

 

What then?

 

The doors to the elevator opened and he walked in, the doors closing behind him immediately. With that, the elevator music drowned his thoughts away, a heavy feeling settled deep in his chest. Everything that Tadashi did for him in these past few days, it was nice. It was nice to see someone doing something like that for him, Hiro couldn’t deny. But the fact that there was a hidden motive behind it didn’t settle well for him. Was it even sincere?

 

Shaking his head from the thoughts, he decided he needed to figure out where he stood with this. He denied this, he didn’t want this and yet, he let Tadashi carry on. He needed to figure out if he wanted this, if he _needed_ this. If he did, then—then something must be done. He couldn’t just stand-by and wait for whatever that was bound to happen.

 

He would not be a maiden in distress.

 

Nobody else knew what he was feeling, only he did and he had to make a decision soon.

 

The elevator doors opened soon and Hiro walked out, heading to the reception desk. He returned the card and walked out of the hotel, feeling the cold London breeze caressing his face gently before he spotted Fred’s car. Tadashi was already there, laughing at whatever Fred was saying as he leaned against the car. Taking in a huge breath and clearing his mind, he gripped onto his bag tighter and walked towards them.

 

“Hey, look who finally came out,” Fred said with a grin. Hiro rolled his eyes before he instructed his friend to open the back of the car. Once he placed his bag inside, he closed the lid and looked at them. Raising his eyebrows, he walked to the backseat and got in. With that everybody else got in and their car ride to the airport started. “Can’t believe you guys aren’t going to stay longer.”

 

“Well, I wish we could stay longer too,” Hiro said as he looked outside of the window. Tadashi nodded as the silence settled in between them immediately stretched on.

 

“So, I’ll just drop by one day,” Fred said as he broke the silence, realising it was getting a bit awkward. Hiro nodded as he looked at Fred and gave him a smile, which was returned with a nod. With that, the silence accompanying them to the ride wasn’t so awkward anymore.

 

* * *

 

Fred hugged Hiro one last time and patted Tadashi on the shoulders. With a wave and a promise that they would come by soon, Hiro hurried to his check-in to get onto the plane, Tadashi following suit. The plane ride back to San Fransokyo was silent again and Hiro, he took the time to mull around the thoughts inside of his mind.

 

Last night, for an instance, they had dinner—Tadashi and he, and then they walked back to the hotel quietly. The key-chain with Hiro’s name engraved in Japanese was something that struck deep inside of Hiro’s heart, that was sure but it didn’t make him settle onto a certain feeling quickly. If anything, it confused him even more. Tadashi had decided to just take a short nap so that he would get over his nerves when they were in the airplane meanwhile Hiro plugged in his earphones at the plane’s music player and sighed softly.

 

He gathered his thoughts carefully and examined everything one by one. From the first time Tadashi had uttered such strange words declaring his…his ‘ _affections’_ to Hiro until now. The way that he manoeuvred around Hiro and danced around him, it was—delicate. If there was a word to describe what he was doing, it would be delicate.

 

His heart fluttered heavily every time the man did something nice to him and for a while, Hiro thought back that maybe, the reason he was so easily flustered was because nobody did this for him before. He maybe just liked the idea of someone doing something so nice for him and not that Tadashi was doing them.

 

It could be anyone in general and he would’ve liked it.

 

He registered that realisation for a moment before relishing on the truth. That was the truth after all, it wasn’t because of Tadashi. His affections for Hiro weren’t—it wasn’t good enough for him. Mainly because the man didn’t know him very well. He could say that he had observed him, talked to him a few times but Hiro would bet anything in this world that Tadashi didn’t know anything _real_ about him.

 

Hiro was someone that people had a hard time trying to figure out. He was wrapped with protective layers of self-cautiousness and low self-esteem. The success he had achieved in his nineteen years of life didn’t do anything to help. In any, it made him feel forced to hang around under underrated attention. So, he liked the idea that someone was giving him their genuine attention—someone who wasn’t looking to get into his brain or secrets.

 

But Tadashi, he was someone that was as open as a book. Hiro had learned about this side of the man when he first met him. He was so easy to read, like he was made out of glass. Hiro could pinpoint exactly what he was feeling from the way his eyes were expressed because—God, his eyes were so _expressive_. His eyes were a dead giveaway and Hiro used this method to figure out most of what was going on with his rival.

 

And it confused him that so far, all this time, despite the big bang declaration of seduction Tadashi wanted to execute on him, he saw only sincerity and honesty. It was something foreign to Hiro and he couldn’t accept it. His heart wanted attention, pure innocent attention and Tadashi was showering him with just that and he _liked_ it.

 

That was all.

 

He didn’t feel anything more than that and he didn’t think he would.

 

 _Yet_ , his inner voice murmured to him amused. Hiro frowned at that as he shook his head. Even if one day, _if_  he ended up feeling more than that for Tadashi, he could see so many things that could go wrong. Tadashi wouldn’t want him after a few months mainly because Hiro had always been someone who didn’t believe in forever.

 

Everything good must come to an end.

 

And he didn’t need any solid proof for that. Mainly because his dead parents were one of his solid evidences. So, Tadashi, despite him showing affection for him now, it would perish one day. And then what? If Hiro ended up loving him one day and to wake up after a few months realising that Tadashi doesn’t feel the same way anymore—the mere thought made him shiver in coldness.

 

The sudden loneliness that would drench him to the bone, it was terrifying and Hiro, he wasn’t ready to face that once again.

 

His heart was hard to penetrate through and nobody was going near it.

 

Forever doesn’t exist and will never exist.

 

Once this duration ended between them, Hiro would tell Tadashi to leave him alone.

 

 _Why not just tell him now? Let him off the hook early. Why not now, Hiro?_ His inner voice was mocking him. He sighed as the coldness once again took over his insides. He could, he knew that. He could tell Tadashi even now to forget about this. Tell him that he wouldn’t make it and Hiro wouldn’t give him any time of the day for this. But somehow, he couldn’t find it in himself to say no.

 

He wondered why for a while but then he always knew why, didn’t he? It was because he craved for attention. Attention to seek his real self—not for the guy behind the screens and words. And Tadashi was showing that interest at the moment, so he found himself drowning in it.

 

But when the end result was something akin to love, the young genius found himself stepping back behind the white line. He wasn’t ready for anything like that despite him being nineteen. Glancing at Tadashi, he felt a tiny squirm of guilt in his heart. Was he playing around with the man’s feelings? He didn’t know. But he would make things clear between them soon.

 

* * *

 

Three days passed since the trip to London. Once he had gotten back, Hiro was ushered back to the lab for some excessive research on his part about one of his inventions meanwhile Tadashi was brought back to the spotlight. It turned out that Tadashi’s latest invention was going to change human revolution and a glimpse of the invention was showcased a day after their London trip.

 

Hiro found out a bit more about this invention named Baymax. It was something to do with everything medical and that certainly made Hiro interested. Tadashi was actually interested in medicine? That part Hiro didn’t know and well, who could blame him? The ‘seduction’ was still standing strong. Tadashi was even busier these days though so he couldn’t spend more than a few hours with Hiro. Sometimes he would see him in the morning and just talk to him or sometimes, he would meet Hiro on the way back home and he would drag Hiro to eat something with him.

 

That was the seduction technique that Hiro found all too innocent. Tadashi wasn’t closing in his personal space neither was he trying to get physical. It was purely emotional and Hiro found himself forgetting to end this every time the day ended. The young scientist was getting frustrated. It was already the first week, seven days gone just like that.

 

His mind reeled in the thought that he let this go on for one week and it made him shudder. He liked the attention Tadashi was giving him, he liked his smiles and the way that he enquired Hiro’s day without sounding so intrusive. Hiro found it—easy to talk to him and the warmth that Tadashi was showering him with made Hiro feel so good inside.

 

Little by little, Hiro realised that the hate that he had harboured in his heart for a very long time for Tadashi was slowly changing into something friendly. Hiro didn’t exactly dislike this change, in fact, it made him feel at ease with himself. He found himself trusting Tadashi despite what he told himself from the beginning. Everything that he had thought about Tadashi once upon a time was so wrong. And Hiro never liked clouding himself with wrongness so he changed his perspective bit by bit until he was looking at Tadashi in a friendlier light.

 

It was the eighth day when Hiro decided that he would end this bet. He woke up that morning and realised—he didn’t want this to delve faster than what it already was. He just came in terms that Tadashi was actually the ‘good’ guy. He calculated in his mind at where Tadashi stood at the moment before he smiled.

 

After showering and got himself ready, he marched to the kitchen and grabbed some cereal. With that, he started off his day by scrolling through his messages and checked his agenda for today. When nothing important up, he realised that this was one of those rare days where he could actually relax. Maybe he would visit his aunt for a moment and help her out at the café.

 

* * *

 

 

Cass immediately dragged him into a tight hug when she saw Hiro walking into the café. She was smiling widely when he pulled himself away from the hug. “Hiro!” she said as she took a few steps back to look at her nephew.

 

“Hi, Aunt Cass,” the young genius said with a small wave. “Busy day?” he asked even though he could deduce that it certainly wasn’t. The rush hour seemed to have passed, which to Hiro’s relief was a good thing. He didn’t want to actually get stuck in the middle of a busy café. His aunt wouldn’t have enough time to pay attention to him too.

 

“Not really,” she said as she waved around to her café. “How are you?” she asked as she walked to the check-out counter before she walked into the kitchen. Hiro just stood by the counter and hummed out as a response. Cass came out from the kitchen after a minute carrying two cups of steaming coffee, placing one cup in front of Hiro and raised her eyebrows. “Hm? That’s not an answer you know.”

 

Hiro rolled his eyes as he traced the rim of his cup slowly with his index finger. “I know,” he said as he grinned at her. “I’m—fine,” he said after a moment of hesitation before grasping the cup tightly and brought it to his lips. The hot coffee burned the edges of his lips slightly before his tongue got used to the hotness. Cass furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before she leaned against the counter, taking sips of her coffee.

 

“Fine?” she asked as she placed the cup on the counter, looking at her nephew carefully. Hiro nodded before he looked away from his aunt and around the café. The smell of coffee, cakes and pastries filled the air and calmed him down. “Right, then. Come on, spill it out.”

 

Hiro looked at her and raised his own eyebrows, looking at her indecorously. “What?”

 

Cass only rolled her eyes before she sighed. “Hiro,” she said. “I know you. Something’s wrong. What’s on your mind?”

 

“Nothing’s on my mind,” Hiro said slowly before he glanced at his cup of coffee, catching his own reflection a bit from the darkness of the beverage. “Maybe.” Cass smiled softly at him before she nodded, letting him know that she was listening.

 

“I’m all ears, Hiro,” she said. “I can be here to listen.”

 

“I know,” Hiro said as he sighed. “Where’s Teo?” Cass blinked at him for a few seconds before she chuckled.

 

“He’s working,” she said. “Doctor, remember?”

 

“Hah, I would’ve thought he would stop working and join you by now,” Hiro said teasingly as Cass smiled warmly. She didn’t dignify that with an answer instead she just looked at him slowly as she sipped her coffee. Hiro felt uncomfortable under her gaze before he realised that he wouldn’t be able to live on without getting stressed out if he didn’t tell somebody about his problems.

 

Even though he had come to a conclusion, he still needed to let someone know of it. His friends—they were out of the equation at the moment. They would do nothing but make him feel uncomfortable. To add more confusion onto another, they would grin creepily realising that they were right. Somehow.

 

With that, he looked at his aunt for a moment before nodding. “You know,” he said while shrugging helplessly. “Tadashi.” That name was enough for Cass to shape her mouth into an ‘O’ as understanding dawned her. But she didn’t comment, in fact, she kept quiet. It seemed that she was taking this seriously. He was actually expecting for her to suddenly burst out and say ‘I knew it!’ but instead, she was totally all ears. “What? No ‘I realised it already’ or something?”

 

Cass just smiled before she sighed softly. “Hiro, it seemed that whatever he did bothered you terribly. I know when to joke and when to listen seriously. I’m always here for you, you know,” she said as she patted Hiro’s shoulder. “I’m always here.”

 

Hiro felt his heart shaking and trembling inside as he felt her love washing him from within. He couldn’t help but to feel alright already, smiling warily at her as she encouraged him to continue. After taking a deep breath, he did just that. “I can’t seem to find faults in him, Aunt Cass. He’s—he’s nice, considerate and really patient. He’s actually really kind too. But—but you have to understand, I don’t like him that way. The man that I hated from the moment I met him suddenly seemed to announce he likes me—like that.”

 

“Ah,” Cass said understandingly before she decided to take a sip of her coffee. Hiro followed her lead before he looked at her and continued with a shaky smile.

 

“But these past few days, I think I must’ve misjudged him somewhere. He’s not, he’s definitely not the person in my head canon,” he said as he tapped his temple. “He’s different. Like, I can be with him and not expect anything, you know? Which is nice, really it is. And I like how he listens closely to what I’m trying to say instead of dismissing the irrelevant details. And in return, I learned a lot about him but just—not enough until I was convinced that what we have is….” Hiro didn’t continue as he looked away.

 

“Love,” Cass finished for him as she smiled. “You’re confused, aren’t you?”

 

“I am,” Hiro said with a bitter laugh. “I so am. I just don’t know what I did to deserve this. Deserve this much of attention or want from someone.”

 

“Hiro,” she said as she took Hiro’s right hand and held it close. “What does your heart say?”

 

“It says,” he started before he shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m really starting to like him you know, but not like that. Maybe like as if—as if—maybe as an acquaintance or acknowledgement that he’s there or maybe, if you really want precise: a friend. A basic friend and not the real close ones. Just the basic one. A friend. But when I realise that he wants something more than that—I find myself trying to shut this reality down that I see him as a—friend.”

 

“Why?” Cass asked as she ushered Hiro to continue on.

 

“Because,” Hiro started. “Because—because when this ends. This, whatever it is between us, he would want an answer about how I feel for him and when he realises that I don’t like him that way; he’ll leave.” The words were spoken quietly. It was funny how there was a point in his life that he wished he was never born in the same universe as Tadashi and now—he didn’t want this friendship between them to die after two weeks.

 

Cass just examined her nephew’s face before she gripped onto his hand tighter. “Hiro,” she started. “You have to tell him this. You have to be honest. Don’t wait for this to end just like that. Just go to him and tell him what you’re telling me now. If—if he really likes you like he said he did, he would understand and try to be your friend first.”

 

“And what if—”

 

“And if he couldn’t accept it,” Cass said with a small frown. “Well, then you can do so much better leaving a guy like him. Look, Hiro. Love comes in many shapes and forms. Maybe you do love him already but as a genuine friend and maybe, who knows, one day it’ll revolve into something deeper but Hiro, don’t wait for the day when you realise that the love you have inside of you is drying out because you’re giving it away freely without getting any of the same love back.”

 

Hiro looked at his aunt carefully, contemplating her advice.

 

“Love is dangerous,” she said after a moment. “Don’t you think I know? I’ve been where you were, I’ve been nineteen before and Hiro, let me tell you, it’s not a pretty sight when you get your heart broken for the first time. I’m not saying you’ll never get hurt if you don’t love, but your parents loved you so much and for you to keep all that love inside without sharing is going to hurt you more than you know. Take a chance when you realise you want to do this,” she said before she poked his chest. “But always listen to your heart and your head. Never one without the other.”

 

Hiro nodded, a gracious and grateful smile made way on his face. “I should tell him what I want then.”

 

“Exactly,” she said as she patted his hand. “As soon as possible and end this—charade. That way, you both will save the heartache.”

 

Hiro felt the remaining confusion drift away as he looked at his aunt. Cass always knew what to say and she was the closest person to have understood him from within. She knew exactly what advice to give and how to cheer him up when he didn’t have anyone else. She didn’t mock him at his weaknesses and she never yelled or scolded him. She was patient even when Hiro was the most annoying young teen at that time.

 

She was—she was his family and for that sole reason, she was always there for him. As a family, as a friend or simply as someone to talk to. Nodding at the words that Cass had shared, he sighed and hoped that the next time he saw Tadashi, he would be brave enough to speak to him about this.

 

His chest felt slightly stuffy when he imagined the horrible scenarios behind this revelation and for a moment, he asked himself when he became so clingy over Tadashi. A few strays of truth rolled into his mind as he contemplated them. He didn’t want to go back to how they were when he realised how good of a company Tadashi was.

 

But he would have to make his boundaries clear.

 

* * *

 

By the time he had gone home, it was once again dinner time. Hiro had thoroughly taken the time off and he stayed away from the labs as much as he could. He just mulled over his situation in his head over and over again. As he walked to his apartment, he didn’t stop dead on his tracks when he saw Tadashi waiting for him. He was used to it already despite how much at first he was shocked. He somehow felt—relived that he wouldn’t be spending his time alone. After accepting the truth about where Tadashi stood in his eyes, it was easier to admit that yes, he was alone and yes, Tadashi’s—presence was slowly filling that space up; even if it was solely platonic at the moment.

 

This was what Tadashi’s presence was doing to him and to think that he could actually look at this man as a—friend or something equivalent to that was certainly terrifying and nice at the same time. Tadashi smiled as Hiro looked at him and raised his eyebrows. There was also no longer nagging irritation at the back of his mind whenever he looked at Tadashi. There were some cautious whispers still present when he had from the beginning and truthfully, he never wanted those whispers to disappear.

 

They were the only thing keeping him grounded to the floor at the moment. “Hey,” Hiro said. “You want something?”

 

“Dinner,” Tadashi said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. “If you want.”

 

Hiro looked at the man in front of him for a moment before he crossed his hands against his chest. “Where?” he asked cautiously, hoping it wasn’t one of the French restaurants. That was another thing that he had learned about Tadashi from these past eight days since he really took the time to know him. This man was obsessed with everything French like and if Hiro had to hear anything about French again, he would surely force a mouthful of Italian spaghetti down his throat just for the sake of it.

 

Tadashi pointed to the ceiling with his index finger before grinning. “Rooftop.”

 

Hiro’s eyes widened as he looked at Tadashi, his hands loosening away from his chest. “You’re kidding me, right?” he asked sceptically as Tadashi shook his head.

 

“Nope,” he said. “It’s a full moon tonight, so I thought—why not?”

 

Hiro felt his throat going dry as he realised what this man was implying. “A romantic picnic?” Hiro asked, hoping he sounded as disinterested as he could. His heart was whining pathetically and at the same time, it shuddered nicely. Tadashi shrugged as he looked at the young genius.

 

“So? Yes or no?” he asked as Hiro looked away from him to his apartment door. Going up to the rooftop? This was what he was supposed to avoid, wasn’t he? And yet, he couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. Small dashes of fear worked into his mind as he looked at the man in front of him, waiting for an answer patiently.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said without thinking too long. Immediately realising his mistake, he tried to take it back. But Tadashi had already beaming at the answer, and so—that caused anything else to die in his mouth and followed Tadashi wordlessly to the fire-escape staircase. Hiro walked behind Tadashi, taking each step carefully. He knew he was terrified of heights and that was a solid reason to back away from this—to take this opportunity to let Tadashi know of his true feelings and yet, he was still on the move.

 

After a few moments of silence, Tadashi had opened the door that lead to the rooftop. Once Hiro walked out, his breath got caught in his throat when he saw the setting laid in front of him. There was a blanket on the ground with two plates of what seemed to be hamburgers. Hiro didn’t know why he felt terribly happy and gushy inside but he was. His cheeks tinted red slightly as he pointed at the items laid in front of him.

 

The sudden squeamish because of the fear of heights disappeared, his mind being occupied around Tadashi and this—picnic.

 

“Uh, yeah,” Tadashi said as he cleared his throat. Hiro looked at him and realised that Tadashi’s face was red too. Short awkward silence filled in the space between them before Tadashi pointed to the sky. Hiro followed his point wordlessly and his eyes widened when he saw the moon, circling around it were the twinkling stars. Hiro felt closer to the sky for the first time in his life as he admired how huge and round the moon looked like.

 

“It’s so beautiful,” Hiro said as Tadashi hummed out in agreement.

 

“Right?” he asked as he looked at Hiro and smiled. “I hope this doesn’t feel too cheesy.” Hiro looked at Tadashi and he couldn’t help it when a smile spilled over his lips. He shook his head as a quiet chuckle escaped his lips. Tadashi grinned at that before he walked to the blanket and patted a spot next to him. Hiro felt his legs moving without him fully processing it and just like that, they ended up eating their food and staring at the moon along the way.

 

“Do you come up here often?” Hiro asked after a while of quiet eating. Tadashi looked at Hiro for a moment before he sighed.

 

“A lot,” he admitted. “When I need to get away from my life, I come up here to just stare at the sky.”

 

“Deep,” Hiro said after a moment. “I guess I can relate.”

 

“Yeah?” Tadashi asked as he glanced at the young genius. Hiro shrugged as he settled on the ground comfortably.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Tadashi, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me yet. But there’s one thing we have in common and that’s our life is full of things happening all at once that we feel suffocated sometimes.”

 

“Like it’s getting out of control and the next thing you realise, you’re already doing something else without even realising it,” Tadashi continued and Hiro nodded. Silence filled in between them after that before Hiro sighed. Tadashi was next to him, enjoying the silence as well and Hiro’s mind wandered around once more. What Cass had said to him this noon crawled back into his mind. He pondered them before realising that this was the perfect time to get his real thoughts of this out.

 

Glancing at Tadashi, Hiro tried to phrase the words into his mind carefully. After running the sentence in his mind a few times, he looked at Tadashi properly and cleared his throat. “Tadashi,” he started. The man immediately looked at him before he cocked his head to the side a bit, curiosity filling his eyes. “I—I have something to tell you.”

 

Tadashi’s curiosity died away and he nodded, asking Hiro to continue on. Hiro contemplated the words once more in his mind before opening his mouth to continue, “I—This thing we agreed to, this two weeks thing; do you think we can…stop?”

 

“Stop?” he questioned as he sat straighter.

 

“I,” Hiro started but at the end of it all, he couldn’t find it a better way to phrase them. “Tadashi, you don’t even know me.”

 

“Ah,” Tadashi said after a minute.

 

“Not ‘Ah’,” Hiro shook his head. “No, I mean, you don’t know me. The real me, Tadashi. Sure, you observed me, you kept your eye on me but could you truly tell me that you know me? The one behind these masks I put on every day for people to see. Can you honestly tell me you know everything about me? I don’t know you either, Tadashi. I just know what colour you like, you have a strange obsession with everything French, you hate the plane—or so I think and you like reading when you have nothing to do. All the trivial stuff that someone knows when they’re—getting to know someone.”

 

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing all along?” Tadashi asked. “Getting to know each other?”

 

“Yeah, no, I mean,” Hiro said as he stopped for a minute. “I mean, yeah, my feelings and thoughts about you changed. I look at you differently now Tadashi. I realised that whatever image I had about you is not real. But Tadashi, it isn’t—love.”

 

Tadashi flinched at that but he nodded. “I see,” he said quietly.

 

“I—I like you as a friend,” Hiro said as he bit his bottom lip. “And I don’t want you to…woo me with a time frame. It—it’s not, I keep on thinking that it won’t be genuine even if I did like you. Can you please—let’s stop this.”

 

Tadashi remained quiet before he sighed and looked at Hiro. His eyes were deep and emotional but Hiro found the streak of understanding in them that made him relax involuntarily. “I—guess,” Tadashi said after a while. “To tell you the truth, Hiro. I really like you and I—I was just getting frustrated that day when you kept on insisting that you didn’t like me and that I was—I was lying. Hiro, I wouldn’t go through all this trouble if I was lying.”

 

“I know…that now,” Hiro said. “But that doesn’t mean we know each other well. It’s only been—what? Eight days? My hate is almost completely gone because the more I spend time with you, the more I see—the real you. It’s just too shallow at the moment now and it’s like what we’re doing is cheap because we made a bet. My feelings aren’t up for a bet, Tadashi and yours isn’t either.”

 

A shameful look covered Tadashi’s face for a moment before he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll just, we’ll do this naturally then.”

 

“I can’t promise you,” Hiro spoke out quickly. “I can’t promise you that I’ll do end up liking you like the way you like me. I might—never. You understand, don’t you, Tadashi?”

 

Hiro was expecting to see anger or maybe disappointment but instead, he saw understanding and respect. It was—as if Tadashi had a lot of faith in Hiro and he would just take whatever Hiro was trying to give him. Something about that made him feel good inside. “Yeah,” Tadashi said. His voice sounded tired all of a sudden but his smile was genuine. “I just don’t want you to look at me like I’m going to murder you in your sleep.”

 

Hiro made a face at that accusation but Tadashi just shrugged cheekily at him. “I don’t think you can even kill a fly,” Hiro said casually as Tadashi chuckled.

 

“Well, you’ll see soon, as we get to know each other,” Tadashi said. “But Hiro—you need to know my true feelings if we’re ever going to be…friends or whatever it is that qualifies as a friend in your book. I really like you. A lot. I might even—so, just,” he finished lamely as his cheeks reddened. Hiro felt his throat constricting a bit before he shifted in his seat.

 

“Why do you like me that much?” Hiro asked after a moment as Tadashi ran his fingers through his hair.

 

“I guess,” Tadashi said. “You just—you make me feel like I could always trust you. Like I can just click with you, you know? Call me crazy but it’s like I knew you before. Like I knew everything about you and I could relate to you. And there were times when I would stop by to see you, you have this lonely look on your face and something about that somehow—relates to me.”

 

Hiro looked at him for a minute before sighing under his breath. “For now, I can only offer friendship. Is that…okay?” Hiro asked, his voice sounding timid. He even sounded selfish to himself. Maybe this was a mistake. It would torture Tadashi even more. “Or not. I—I feel so selfish. God, you just make me feel comfortable around you, and even though I can’t return your feelings—I still want you around,” Hiro blurted out as Tadashi examined him.

 

For a minute, Tadashi didn’t say anything and for a while, Hiro thought that maybe, he wasn’t going to agree. But before he could figure out what was happening, a hand landed on his head and patted it gently as if there was so much love being projected through. And even though it was supposed to make Hiro squirm from the uncomfortableness—he didn’t. He felt, calmer. Tadashi just cracked a smile. “I’ll take what you can give. Even if it’s just friendship, I want to have some kind of tie with you, Hiro. So, yeah, I’ll take that friendship. Can you accept me for who I am and that I still like you? I’ll try to keep them from overwhelming you but you have to understand too—”

 

“I get it,” Hiro said quickly, just trying to take in the fact that Tadashi agreed to this. “Yeah, okay,” Hiro said as he looked at Tadashi and smiled. Something big changed between them as Hiro relished the fact that he was already enjoying their state of friendship at the moment. Before Hiro could do anything else, Tadashi took away his hand and extended it out in front of Hiro. Hiro looked at the hand questioningly.

 

“Hi, I’m Tadashi Hamada,” Tadashi said. “Nice to meet you.”

 

Hiro realised what was happening before he took the hand and shook it, a smile forming on his face.

 

“Hi, I’m Hiro Hamada. Nice to meet you too.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well,...uh. Ya. I don't know. I think this makes sense because in my head canon--the story make sense but when writing it down, it's a whole another thing. I'm sorry if you guys think it's lame but ah, i tried~! Anyways, sorry once again for the late update. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter anyway. ^^" Thank you for the comments, kudos, subs and everything else in between! It keeps me motivated. Well, until the next chapter~! -Krystal 
> 
> Other places you can find me: [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/) | [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)
> 
> **Edited: 11/5/2015**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine~

 

 

This morning seemed brighter, _lighter_ somehow. It was a wonder how the first time in his life, he felt happy waking up in the morning. He, Hiro Hamada, who always hated the morning, now _enjoyed_ waking up. The world was going to end somehow, he was sure of it. Staring at the ceiling for a few seconds, he blinked as he realised why he felt so light today.

 

Yesterday, he had finally managed to break this bet and try a friendship—or sort of—with Tadashi. The man who he had hated once upon a time seemed to change his mind after he knew the man for a week. But the fact that Tadashi saw him as someone more made Hiro think thrice about his decision. Sure, he wanted to keep some kind of connection with the man but will this friendship last?

 

He shook those thoughts away from his mind, realising that it wouldn’t bring any use to him since he couldn’t foresee the future. He felt a smile gliding on his face when he saw how relieved Tadashi was when Hiro said he wanted to be his friend. The man made Hiro feel—so in place after just a week.

 

He was suspicious of the man’s intention at first. He was Hiro Hamada, who had discovered enough theories that could last a lifetime for mankind’s revolution. He suspected that Tadashi, as his initial rival, would want to tip his balance off so that he could take over the spotlight. The spotlight never mattered to Hiro before but the thought that this man could be better infuriated him.

 

That was why when this bet started, he tried not to get sucked into this charade because he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure if Tadashi was trying to manipulate him into losing his hard work or if he was really sincere. As he got to know Tadashi slowly, he learned just enough, even though it barely scratched the surface, yet still enough to know that no, this wasn’t his scheme.

 

In fact, his friends were right before this. Tadashi certainly wasn’t someone who would try and ruin someone’s hard achievement just for the sake of his own needs. He sighed as he slowly sat up, deciding that today he would be busy all over again.

 

With that, he stood up from the bed and went ahead with his usual morning routine. Heading to the kitchen while running his fingers through his semi-wet hair with a smile, he opened the refrigerator and looked through before he spotted an apple. Usually he wouldn’t eat anything healthy at this point of the day but somehow, today he wanted to try it out. So, he took the apple and rubbed the apple against his shirt before taking a bite.

 

Looking around for his tablet, he found it lying on the kitchen counter lifelessly. He raised his eyebrows before he closed the refrigerator door and grabbed the tablet. Switching it open, he went through his emails and everything else that didn’t matter for the day. Soon, he opened the news feed and looked through before an article caught his eyes.

 

His mid-way bite on the apple paused as his eyes widened and stared at the article. “No _way_ ,” he whispered to himself as he placed the apple on the counter and took the tablet with his both hands, tugging it close to his face. He scanned through the article carefully, picking up important points before he placed the tablet on the counter with a short huff in shock.

 

_Tadashi Hamada’s newest invention: A RoboNurse revolutionises the medical field!_

 

“Baymax,” Hiro said as he looked back at the article. He didn’t know how he felt about this latest invention but some part of him was proud that someone took the effort to invent something that was useful to the human race for once. He quickly looked back at the living room, pondering if he should go and see Tadashi about this—congratulate or something.

 

It was funny how if this had happened before, Hiro would’ve wanted to scowl the whole entire day. Now, he had just wanted to go ahead and what? Congratulate him. He—Hiro Hamada— _congratulating_ his rival?

 

 _Why_ _not_? His mind pondered on. _Aren’t you guys friends now_? _Or is that a lie_?

 

 _No_ , Hiro concluded. It wasn’t a lie. He wanted to be Tadashi’s friend and that was what he was going to do.

 

Shrugging, he took his smartphone and his wallet before he found his bag lounging on the sofa in the living room. With that, he walked to the front door and clicked it open. The silent hallway greeted him immediately and a silent shudder went through his spine before he shook it off and walked out. Closing the door behind him, he adjusted his bag on his shoulder before he looked at Tadashi’s door.

 

Before he could even blink, the door opened and the said man walked out looking a bit worn out with a cap worn on his head. Hiro blinked a few times before he shuffled on his feet. Even though it was true that things were established properly yesterday night, Hiro was still unsure slightly if it was really happening. Tadashi closed the door and he turned around to walk away when his eyes met Hiro.

 

A few seconds passed as they stared at each other before Tadashi broke out a smile, wide and cheerful immediately clearing Hiro out from his doubts and smiled back. “Morning,” Tadashi said with some humour in his voice. Hiro nodded at him before returning the greeting. With that, they walked side by side silently to the elevator.

 

Hiro kept on mulling about the article he read as he glanced at Tadashi from the corner of his eyes. The elevator doors slid opened and Hiro walked in immediately, followed by Tadashi. Once the doors closed, the elevator music poured in the empty space, making him feel awkward. “So, uh,” Hiro started. Tadashi just glanced at him before smiling. “I saw the article online. It’s launching, huh? Congratulations.”

 

“Thanks,” Tadashi said, his smile getting bigger. “And it’s actually a _he_.”

 

“ _He_?” Hiro asked after the implication settled in. Hiro raised his eyebrows as he looked at Tadashi. “He?” Tadashi shrugged his shoulders and immediately stepped out of the elevators when the doors opened. Hiro found himself following the man, a hint of déjà vu settled deep inside of him. He almost bit his tongue from laughing when he realised that the last time this happened—Tadashi was the one following him out.

 

“Yeah, he,” Tadashi agreed. “He’s—Baymax’s special,” Tadashi said with a soft smile before he stopped walking and turned around to look at Hiro. His face radiated what seemed like pure ecstasy at what his invention was about to do to the world. The young scientist almost stepped away from the radiating sunshine from the man.  “He’s going to help a lot of people, Hiro.”

 

Hiro remained quiet for a moment before nodding. “That’s your dream, right?” Hiro asked, immediately remembering Abigail. A few drops of twang tinged deep inside of his heart that he almost frowned at that. Tadashi nodded, a thoughtful look covered his face.

 

“Yeah,” he said quietly. Hiro noticed that it was the same face he found Tadashi wearing when Abigail inquired him about Baymax. He simply wondered for a moment if Tadashi had experienced something remotely the same as Hiro did in the past that made him this way. But he didn’t dare to ask, knowing it would be too personal. “Do you want to see him?”

 

Hiro was startled out of his daydream as he looked at the man. He waited for a few seconds for the words to sink in before he took a small step back. “Uh, you want _me_ to see him?” he asked, sounding disbelieved. Tadashi smiled at Hiro before he nodded.

 

“Why not?” he asked. “He’s finalised anyways. Tomorrow is the registration on the product and then in a few days’ time, the public will get to know him.”

 

“I get a special look on him, then?” Hiro asked, sounding a bit touched at that. Tadashi grinned vibrantly before nodding.

 

“I’ll bring you to see him after I finished with the paperwork this afternoon,” he said. Hiro realised that he was slipping away from his demeanour. He cleared his throat and broke his eye contact from Tadashi before chewing on his bottom lip. Should he do this? They just had established their friendship yesterday and now he was already going to see Tadashi’s inventions.

 

After a beat, Hiro finally relented and nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll mostly be at the lab,” Hiro said as he started to walk past Tadashi. Tadashi nodded before he looked at Hiro one last time and walked out of the building with the young genius.

 

“I’ll see you at five,” Tadashi said before he waved at Hiro a bit and started to walk away from him to the other direction. Hiro watched his retreating back for a few seconds before he shook his head and walked away to the opposite direction.

 

* * *

 

“So, how’s your trip to London?” Gogo asked as she chewed on her chewing gum, looking at Hiro’s blueprint on his latest invention. Hiro looked up from the notepad on the table before looking at her and raised his eyebrows.

 

“Fine,” he said quietly before he went back to the calculations. Gogo remained silent before she blew out her bubble and popped it loudly before starting over with the chewing. The silence didn’t really bother Hiro but that obscene smacking chewing sound did, so he sighed loudly and looked up from his work before glaring at Gogo. “Do you mind?”

 

“Yeah,” Gogo said with a smile before she crossed her arms against her chest. “How was London?”

 

“Fine,” Hiro said before he furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Fine. It was…fine. What more do you— _oh_ , Tadashi.” Gogo grinned when the question finally sunk in his mind. He rolled his eyes at her before he leaned into his seat a bit comfortably.

 

“Yeah, I mean,” Gogo started. “You sounded as if you wanted to strangle yourself and suddenly, here you are—cheery and happy.”

 

“Am I?” Hiro asked dryly. “Gogo, it’s none of your business. Don’t you have work or something?” Hiro asked and was actually amused when Gogo rolled her eyes irritated at the young genius.

 

“No,” she said sharply, obviously not liking the way Hiro was ignoring her. Seconds ticked on before Hiro cracked a grin and she sighed, smiling back at him. “So, how _are_ you and Tadashi getting along?”

 

Hiro looked away from her for a moment before he sighed. “Well, I guess you guys were—oh god, I can’t _believe_ I’m saying this—but you guys were right. Somehow.”

 

“Right?” Gogo asked, her eyebrows raised. “You mean—about Tadashi?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said. “He wasn’t…like whom I expected him to be.”

 

Gogo stared at Hiro for a moment before she blinked. “Something happened, didn’t it, Hiro?” she asked as she took a few steps forward to Hiro. Hiro looked at her and scoffed out before he nodded.

 

“Yeah, something like that,” the young genius said. “It happened at London.”

 

“What happened?” she asked.

 

“Well, like I said, he wanted to seduce me, right?” he said as she nodded at him. “Yeah, sure it worked fine but—Gogo, I don’t know him. We don’t know each other well. How can someone love without knowing them first? You guys kept on making fun of this that I’m—it confused me.”

 

Gogo thinned her lips but soon enough, the realisation dawned on her face before she sighed. “Ah,” she said. “Sorry,” she said sincerely before she shrugged. “We just thought you needed some boost ahead. I didn’t mean to sound—like I’m making fun of you, Hiro. We’re really happy that someone’s willing to take a chance on you, Hiro.”

 

“I know,” Hiro said with a tiny smile. “Well, after that I came back home and I mulled things over. And, I realised that I actually enjoyed his company.”

 

Gogo smiled brightly at that as she leaned in closer. “So you actually don’t hate him anymore?”

 

Hiro contemplated that in his mind for a second before he shrugged. “All I know is that I like him but—not like _that_ ,” Hiro said before she could suggest otherwise. “He makes me feel—comfortable, Gogo. Like I can be myself with him and he wouldn’t judge me. He makes the silence between us so comfortable and if I wanted to speak to him, he would listen. It made me feel—important.”

 

“That’s nice, Hiro,” she said as she sighed. “So, _what_ actually happened?”

 

“The bet’s off,” Hiro said shortly as her eyes widened a bit. “We’re just friends.”

 

“The bet is— _friends_?” Gogo asked as he nodded, confusion filling her eyes before she snapped her eyes back at the young genius. “You mean—you want him around?”

 

Hiro felt his cheeks reddening a bit before he sat up straighter and looked away. “Yeah?” he said, sounding defensive but Gogo didn’t make any remarks about it. Instead she just smiled, something almost proud-like made way on her face and for a moment, Hiro was confused. “Why are you smiling like that?”

 

“Like what?” Gogo asked, sounding too innocent. “I’m just—,” she started. “You’re letting him in, Hiro. At some point, you trust him. That’s an improvement, don’t you think?” Hiro looked away from her and mulled that in his mind. The truth was blaring in his mind before he nodded.

 

“I guess,” he said. “He just makes me feel—different,” Hiro whispered more to himself and Gogo just nodded, sounding understanding.

 

“So, what did he say though? When you asked him to just stay as friends?” she asked as Hiro looked at her and hummed out a moment.

 

“He says he likes me, Gogo,” Hiro said. “He said he wants me but he’s willing to wait for me. I—what if that doesn’t happen? What if I’m leading him on? I want him around but I’m not sure if I can return his feelings. Am I—Am I a bad person, Gogo?” Hiro asked gently and a short silence followed by.

 

Gogo walked towards Hiro before she leaned into his space and gripped onto his shoulders tight. “Hiro,” she said as she made him look at her in the eyes. Seriousness filled in those orbs and Hiro was taken aback at that. “This is something new for you, isn’t it? Give it a try if you think you can. And since you told him everything—you don’t have anything to be afraid for. You can’t predict the future, Hiro. If you kept on living your life with ‘what ifs’, then it’s just as bad as you’re not living at all.” Gogo released him and shrugged.

 

The words sunk in deep as Hiro closed his eyes and bit out a smile. Gogo had some point and he couldn’t help but to wonder where this side of his friend had gone to recently. Now, when he saw this wise side of Gogo, it made him feel relaxed.

 

“Right,” Hiro agreed and Gogo just grinned at him.

 

“Now, what about this improvement here?” Gogo switched the subject as she pointed back to the blueprint and took out a pencil.

 

* * *

 

Munching on the cap of the pen, Hiro looked at the blueprint in front of him. Gogo’s suggestions did create a better leverage for his latest invention. Nodding to himself, he took the pen from his mouth and added new calculations at the edge before looking at them and smiled. After Gogo had left, his mind had been occupied with his work, not leaving the lab unless he needed a toilet break or something to munch on.

 

Gogo had forced him to eat an egg sandwich for lunch. Sometimes, he was glad that he had Gogo by his side, mostly because she knew when to force him to eat something. She was like Cass number two. Humming a soft melody, he finally stood up from his seat and stretched a bit, feeling the muscles at the back of his neck cracking under the tension.

 

He tried to stretch his arms forward before he bent his back backwards a bit. When the tension of the muscles finally stretched far enough, he let out a soft sigh and straightened up, relishing on the relaxed muscles. Before he could go back to his work, a knock from the lab door had him glancing away from his blueprint.

 

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who it could be. None of his friends knocked when they wanted to come in, instead, they simply barged in whether he was busy or not. “Come in,” he said loud enough for the person from the other side of the door to hear. Hiro looked back at his desk and took his pen before capping it closed with the pen cap.

 

“Still working?” a voice asked amused. Hiro quickly turned around to look at the person before he raised his eyebrows.

 

“Tadashi?” he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why the man was here. Tadashi observed the young genius for second before a grin slid on his face.

 

“I told you I would bring you to see Baymax, didn’t I?” he said, trying to jog Hiro’s memory. For a few second, the young genius didn’t register to what the man was saying. Soon after the tendrils of his memory connected, his eyes widened and his mouth shaped into an ‘O’, realisation dawning on his face.

 

His eyes darted away from Tadashi to the electronic wall clock. He read the time that was blinking in bright neon green, indicating it was almost five in the evening. Scratching the back of his neck, he looked at the man again and gave him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I got carried away.”

 

“It’s alright,” Tadashi waved him off. He was standing a few feet inside but he didn’t walk any closer to Hiro’s working space. The young genius couldn’t help but to feel relieved at that. There were still boundaries between them and Hiro was glad that he didn’t have to address them to the man. That was another thing that Hiro had noticed from Tadashi. He somehow knew when to cross the lines and when not to. It seemed as if he could read this young genius without him having to open his mouth. Hiro looked away from the taller man and back at his working space, wondering if he could finish this up by tomorrow if he left now. Tadashi seemed to notice the hesitation before he continued, “If you’re busy, we can do this another time.”

 

Hiro immediately looked back at Tadashi and for a moment, he was tempted to stay back and finish his work. But then—he would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel excited or anticipated to meet Baymax. When he first heard about it— _him_ , Hiro couldn’t help but to wonder what type of invention it was that had Tadashi so shy about. It also sounded personal and the young genius had wanted to know more.

 

Especially when Abigail seemed to be expressing great things about Baymax when in London. Hiro quickly looked back at his work space and took his bag. He shoved his smartphone and wallet inside before pushing the chair back under the table. “I’m not that busy,” Hiro said as he looked at Tadashi once again and smiled.

 

Tadashi grinned at him, showing his pearly whites before adjusting the cap he was wearing on his head. “Alright then,” he said before he walked out of the lab, Hiro following.

 

The walk to the carpark was quiet. Hiro enjoyed the silence and Tadashi was smiling all the way. The young genius was somehow a bit jealous at the fact that Tadashi had his own car to drive whenever he wanted—even though Hiro had only seen him drive on a few occasions. The car was beautiful too; a slick grey metallic colour that seemed to shine bright under the orange-yellow sunlight.

 

“It’s a nice car,” Hiro muttered under his breath. Tadashi glanced at him before nodding, obviously heard what Hiro was saying. Pressing onto the unlock button on the car key pad, he walked to the driver’s seat and opened the door. He gestured at Hiro to the passenger seat before he got in, Hiro following shortly after.

 

Once the car was on the road, Hiro wondered where Baymax was. Were they heading to Tadashi’s lab? “Where are we going actually?” Hiro asked as he hugged his bag which was on his lap before looking at Tadashi. The man simply glanced at Hiro from the corner of his eyes and smiled.

 

“To my lab,” he said shortly, a hint of glee in his voice. Hiro raised his eyebrows before looking through the window to the scenery outside.

 

“Didn’t you have a lab at the institute too?” Hiro asked as he made himself comfortable.

 

“Yeah,” Tadashi said before he hummed out in thought. “But I always liked the idea of having a small lab to call as my own. It’s…safer.”

 

“Ah,” Hiro said as he agreed silently to Tadashi. They were heading to fame nowadays and therefore, their inventions were really expensive and could be sold for millions if they were stolen. Tadashi seemed to have thought that the institute wasn’t safe for him—even though Hiro didn’t really see the reason for his fears. Hiro had been working in that lab for a few years now and he could always lock the lab up after he was done. “It’s quite far from where we live,” Hiro commented once he saw a sign, exiting from San Fransokyo’s centre.

 

Tadashi just chuckled before he shrugged. “I like the remote area,” Tadashi said. “It gives me more peace, I suppose. People don’t tend to look for me at places like these. They assume I’m always around the heart of San Fransokyo.”

 

“You come out here often then?” Hiro asked as he noticed how the big buildings that were once compact before started to melt away, jarring distances between each building. The traffic was lessening and soon, there were smaller buildings and more down-to-earth type of people by the sidewalk.

 

“This is where—I was born,” Tadashi said after a moment. “I mean, I’m a boy born and breed in San Fransokyo, but I was born and raised here, at these corners of the city.”

 

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows a bit as he examined the buildings he passed. There were corners of café shops and there were other old-fashioned tailor shops. He even spotted a bakery and he couldn’t help but to smile, wondering how he had managed to not go here even after living in this city for so long. They had to cross the bridge to get to this part of the city.

 

Well, can he call it a city? It was more like a small town, like a small extension from the big city. “It’s peaceful,” Hiro said as Tadashi chuckled, agreeing to him.

 

The drive continued on for a few more minutes before Tadashi parked his car in front of a small building. It was more like a block of a building, square shaped and seemed to have two floors, placed at the corner of a T-junction next to a bookstore. It had no name and it seemed closed off from the public. Hiro got out from the car and so did Tadashi, smiling as he locked his car and looked at the young genius from his side.

 

“This is your lab?” Hiro asked as he pointed to the building.

 

“Yeah,” Tadashi said. “I own this small building. I do all my work here.”

 

“Isn’t it risky?” Hiro asked as he looked at Tadashi. The man just raised his eyebrows, looking at Hiro expectantly—asking the young genius to continue wordlessly. “I mean, I _am_ your rival, Tadashi. Even if we’re friends, this is—risky, isn’t it?”

 

“Ah,” Tadashi said. “Well, I’ll just hold on to your word to not tell anyone then.” It was Hiro’s turn to raise his eyebrows as he cocked his lips into a smile.

 

“I don’t think I’ve said that,” Hiro said. “What if I tell someone about it?” Tadashi seemed to look at Hiro for a few seconds before he snorted at the boy and walked away from his car.

 

“You won’t,” Tadashi said confidently, walking to the building.

 

“And if I do?” Hiro asked as he followed Tadashi, dragging his bag along. Tadashi stopped at the front door of the building before he looked back at the young genius.

 

“Will you?” he asked, sounding amused. Hiro knew that he wouldn’t. Sure, he wanted to beat Tadashi in these types of things but he wasn’t _that_ desperate. Even if he was—he still wouldn’t do it. He was raised better than that. Hiro shook his head, a tiny smile gracing his lips. Tadashi grinned wide at the answer before he looked back at the door. There wasn’t any doorknob and for a second, Hiro wondered how they were going to get in.

 

Tadashi then placed his hand against the door and a square frame lit up around Tadashi’s hand. It scanned his palm in blue neon light before there was a quiet click. The door then slid opened with a small hiss, revealing Tadashi’s lab. Hiro was mesmerised. Those were the first words that entered his head when he followed Tadashi into the lab.

 

The door slid closed behind them and now, Hiro was in Tadashi’s world. It was bigger, the space inside was definitely bigger than the outer look. Hiro noticed how neatly organised his lab was, even though there were some pieces of paper and raw metal lying on the ground. The walls were bleached white and everything tech-like from computer software to beeping machines surrounded the walls and tables.

 

“Woah,” Hiro whispered out loud as Tadashi took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. “This is really—something, Tadashi.” Tadashi simply scratched his right cheek in what seemed like embarrassment before he made his way to the stairs at the corner left of the room. Hiro looked around for a bit, recognising some of Tadashi’s inventions before this.

 

“Here,” Tadashi called out as he climbed up the stairs to the second floor. Hiro quickly abandoned his search and followed the man, a sudden wave of excitement washed through him. When he reached the floor, his eyes were caught by a big, balloon sized thing right against the wall. Hiro furrowed his eyebrows as he walked towards the thing, scanning it as he went. Tadashi followed Hiro before both of them stood in front of the inflated balloon like thing.

 

“What is this?” Hiro asked as he examined the skin. It was white and it looked fluffy. Hiro slowly poked it, realising that it felt metallic and yet bouncy at the same time. Tadashi huffed out a breath before he took in a deep breath.

 

“Hiro,” he started. “Meet Baymax.”

 

Hiro’s hand which was poking the thing dropped and he immediately looked at Tadashi. “Baymax?” he asked before he looked back at it—him. “This is Baymax?” he asked, awe filled his face. “This is—he’s so—cuddly looking.”

 

Tadashi chuckled as he nodded at Hiro. “He has to if he’s ever going to make people feel safe,” Tadashi said. Hiro glanced back at Baymax before examining him, noticing how indeed he looked safe. As if someone could hug it and not fear at all. “Do you want to see how he works?”

 

Hiro glanced at Tadashi before shrugging. He really did though, deep inside. He wanted to know what Baymax actually did. Tadashi took that as consent before he smiled. “Well, Baymax’s job is to analyse and identify everything and anything medical revolving around the human species. He can also help create cures faster as he has the access to all medical banks in the world, including all information from WHO.”

 

“ _WHO_?” Hiro asked as his eyes went wide. “ _The_ WHO?”

 

“How many World Health Organisation is there?” Tadashi teased as Hiro rolled his eyes at the man. “Yeah, the very one. It was actually a project combined with their help.”

 

“That’s,” Hiro started. “That’s _amazing_ , Tadashi,” he finally settled at that as he looked at the man. “You can save more lives and help create new cures to all these diseases that we haven’t found the cure to yet. AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer!”

 

“That’s the goal,” Tadashi said silently. Hiro felt a swell of pride in him even though he didn’t know why. But nevertheless, Hiro guessed he would feel proud at anyone who was trying to create this world into a better place. To help all those people out there that didn’t have a chance to live on before—the research in medicine would be more professionalised and modernised. “But that’s not all that he does.”

 

“No?” Hiro asked, looking at Tadashi.

 

“No,” Tadashi said with a quirk of his lips. “He can be your best buddy too. Someone you can lean onto or someone you want to be close with. Like a—friend or a family. He was designed to be used in public for the public. Not to be stuck in labs and create cures only but to interact with people too. Help create a better environment for children who were sick in the hospitals or at home or simply for normal people as well, like you and me. A company, if you want to call him that.”

 

“He’s a walking medical thesaurus _and_ a cuddly teddy bear. Tadashi, this really is a great invention,” Hiro said, sounding proud. Tadashi chuckled before he looked at Hiro and raised his eyebrows. “What?” Hiro asked before Tadashi gave him what seemed like an apologetic smile and before Hiro could realise what was happening, Tadashi had pinched his arm roughly. “ _Ouch_!” Hiro yelped as he pushed Tadashi away and started to rub his arm. “What the hell was that for?”

 

“I heard a call of distress,” a voice beamed out like a child. Hiro yelped out louder as he took a few steps back from Baymax, realising that the voice was coming from him. Tadashi chuckled at that before he patted Baymax’s arm. Baymax immediately caught Hiro’s eyes from his black round ones and tilted his head. Before Hiro could protest, he was scanned thoroughly and Baymax had listed out his analysis.

 

“Oh wow,” Hiro said after Baymax had literally deduced his medical history. “That’s,” Hiro started but he had to admit, he was speechless. Baymax took a step out from his red box and looked around the room before he looked at Tadashi.

 

“If you are satisfied with my care, please state ‘I’m satisfied with your care’ to shut me down,” Baymax said as Hiro blinked at him. Tadashi chuckled once more before he looked at Hiro and grinned.

 

“I’m satisfied with your care, Baymax,” Tadashi said and Baymax walked back to his red box before shutting down. “Well, what do you think?”

 

“I think that’s—what do you want me to say, Tadashi? That’s just,” Hiro said as he straightened himself and looked at the man. “It’s going to change the world and help a lot of people.”

 

Tadashi seemed to be glowing in red as he smiled at him. “I hope so,” he said, his voice sounding wishful. “I always loved medicine,” he confessed after a minute. “But robotics has been more of my thing. I just had now the courage to finish this overdued project.”

 

“I—,” Hiro started after a second when he saw the familiar shadow passing on Tadashi’s face. He saw the same look on him in London that day when Abigail mentioned the same thing. Biting his bottom lip, he constructed the words in his head for a minute before he continued. “I may not know what had happened in the past, Tadashi but—right now? You’re doing something great and kind. I’m just glad—you proved me wrong.”

 

Tadashi seemed look at Hiro in the eyes as he listened to him. Hiro smiled before he felt his cheeks reddening. “I mean, I always thought you were this conceited, competitive weirdo but now,” Hiro said as he looked at Baymax. “I was wrong about you and I’m glad you proved me wrong.”

 

Tadashi remained stoic for a while before a soft smile broke out from his lips. “That means a lot coming from you, Hiro,” Tadashi said quietly as he sighed and rubbed his face. Hiro just cleared his throat, his chest suddenly feeling slightly tighter and his heart beating a tad faster.

 

* * *

 

It had been two days since then. Hiro had went back home that night after grabbing dinner with Tadashi. The man seemed to be so different now in Hiro’s point of view. He was actually trying real hard to make a difference—a real difference in this cold metal-blocked world. The previous doubts of his friendship with Tadashi quickly washed away when he spent more time with the man.

 

They met up at least once a day, maybe for lunch or for breakfast or like the usual—for dinner. It never held that romantic vibe like it did from the initial days but sometimes, at some point of their dinner or breakfast or even lunch, there would be that tiny detail Hiro would begin to notice about Tadashi.

 

Like how his lips stretched nice and wide when he was smiling sincerely or like how his dark hair looked two shades lighter under the orange-like sun or even how he seemed to lean into his seat and his cheeks tainting red whenever he was embarrassed. Those tiny details about Tadashi made him think second or thrice about his wandering thoughts. Sometimes, they made his heart beat louder and his chest felt tighter.

 

Those thoughts started to evade his mind more than once a day, sometimes frequently. But Hiro didn’t ponder on them too long, getting distracted with his own work somehow by the end of the day. And if those smiles or laugh sometimes ended up in his dreams and he couldn’t help but to wake up with a smile on his face, well, that was just a coincidence.  

 

Hiro had kept a tight lid about Tadashi’s lab, occasionally asking about Baymax but made no move to head back there again. Something about the way Tadashi was in that small town made him feel a bit intrusive. Tadashi seemed to have fit in like he was made there and Hiro—he didn’t want to ruin that vibe, so he stayed away, only would he follow if he was invited again.

 

Sighing, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and walked side by side the man himself, just heading out to grab something for tea-time. Tadashi had told him some of his past like what high school he had gone to and how he loved his parents. Hiro could feel something shadowing the man’s eyes every time he talked about his parents and to be honest, the young genius knew that look very well. It was the one that he, himself had worn it whenever his parent’s death anniversary was just around the corner.

 

“So, what about you?” Tadashi asked as they walked down the lane. “How’s your family?” That question made Hiro wince before he shook it off. Everyone knew about his family—it was a simple bio data of a rising famous scientist.

 

“You know,” Hiro said. “They died when I was five. Been living with my Aunt Cass ever since.”

 

“Well, at least we have something in common,” Tadashi said as he looked at Hiro. Hiro glanced at him and raised his eyebrows. “My parents died too. In a plane crash when I was ten.”

 

Hiro almost stopped walking as he looked at the man. The memory of Tadashi practically growing pale every time he was on the plane made better sense now. He never really researched about Tadashi but he was sure that he would have known about his family if he did. He bit his bottom lip before he looked at Tadashi. “I’m sorry,” he said but Tadashi just shrugged.

 

“Nah,” he said with a smile. “It’s been so long ago. I’m fine.” The words sounded hollow because Hiro had known those words since he was five. He stopped walking for a moment as he stared at Tadashi. The man caught up that the young genius wasn’t following and stopped as well, looking back at Hiro with a curious look. “What?”

 

Hiro kept quiet for a minute before he decided that it would help. He hadn’t told anyone this and yet, this man in front of him reminded Hiro of—the past him. “My parents died when I was five, as you know now. But—they died protecting me.” Tadashi remained quiet as he looked at Hiro, his brown eyes piercing into his own.

 

“They—we were on a trip. Camping trip actually. It was a warm sunny day and we were walking around the forest. My parents said it was important for me to grow up with the nature even though they hated the outdoors,” Hiro continued, some lump forming in his throat as he recalled that day. He didn’t know if it was too early to talk about his family to Tadashi. He knew that he could just smile at Tadashi and move on; he didn’t have to tell him anything. But he wanted to. For the first time in his life, he felt a nudge in his heart, wanting to let someone know about him. For better or worse, he didn’t know but he hoped it would help ease Tadashi’s mind as well.

 

So, he continued:

 

“And uhm, well, somehow, we ended up at the edge of a cliff and the view was beautiful actually. But we stood too close at a collapsing edge of the cliff and it broke out. Before I knew it, I was standing on some extra platform of the cliff, just below a few feet from the broken edge of the cliff. My mother and father were injured badly and uh, well, they called for help. I think they did because of the signal and I can’t remember much but my father went off first. He was injured the worst with his head bleeding and then my mother due to the coldness when the night dawned. We were there for almost a two weeks and I survived drinking the water from the bottles they brought and a packet full of candy bars.”

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi said slowly.

 

“And uhm well, two weeks later, the police found me. The doctors thought that I was supposed to die, I wasn’t supposed to be alive but I did. And I have been scared of heights ever since,” Hiro concluded as he felt his eyes watering slightly. Wiping them, he quickly sniffed and looked away. Tadashi remained quiet before he slowly walked towards Hiro.

 

“I—,” Tadashi started silently but Hiro just looked at him and smiled.

 

“It’s alright, really,” he said. “I know what you mean.” Tadashi’s eyes flashed something and before Hiro could protest, Tadashi had placed an arm on Hiro’s shoulders and dragged the young genius against his chest.

 

“I’m going to hug you now,” he said, his voice sounding thick. Hiro rolled his eyes at that, realising that Tadashi was definitely a sappy person. However, he couldn’t help but to feel a bit better at the hug, as if someone really cared. He had never told anyone about his fear of heights neither had he told anyone besides Cass about what happened that day. It was a traumatic experience that made Hiro shut in until he was fifteen. He hated the outdoors because of this but realised soon enough that even if he was older back then, things would’ve still stayed the same.

 

 _When your time comes, you have to go_ , he remembered Cass saying to him as she tried to stop a seven-year-old Hiro crying alone after waking up from the nightmares. “Who knew you were such a big sap, huh?” Hiro teased even though his throat constricted. He felt sad knowing that Tadashi had been through what he did at such a young age. Tadashi just chuckled wetly before his grip on Hiro tightened and without hesitation, Hiro hugged him back.

 

The warmth was cosy and Hiro found himself leaning deeper into the embrace. Something about this was strangely intimate and yet—it scorched out the loneliness he had felt for such a long time. It disappeared for a moment and Hiro didn’t know why it was this man that managed to do so.

 

They stayed close together for a minute before Tadashi released him, his hands lingering on his shoulder. A flash of disappointment took over his chest as he reluctantly let Tadashi go. “I’m sorry too,” he said slowly and Hiro just shrugged with a smile. “It must’ve been hard telling me that. And I’m sorry for having dragged you to the rooftop that day. I didn’t know you were scared of height. And then the planes—I just.”

 

“Hey,” Hiro said as he patted Tadashi’s shoulders. “I’m fine. It’s been fourteen years. I don’t even remember half of the things happened anyway.” After a minute he added, “I’m fine. And Tadashi, are _you_ fine?”

 

He remained silent for a few seconds before he sighed and looked at Hiro. “Even though my parent’s death wasn’t as horrifying as yours were, I still lost mine because of a plane crash. They were on their way to Australia for a business trip and because of some storm, they ended up crash landing in the ocean, killing off everyone on board. I was only ten when I first watched the news and saw my parent’s bodies being delivered to the morgue ten weeks later. I lived with the orphanage because my parents had no kin and before I knew it, I was able to afford my own place by the time I was—fifteen. Once I was eighteen, I moved out.”

 

Tadashi took a deep breath as he looked at the young genius. Hiro stared at him back and let the dark past settle in him. After a second, he squeezed the man’s shoulders before nodding. “We’re both a bit scarred inside, huh?” Hiro asked but Tadashi just chuckled.

 

“But I guess we did make them proud, right?” Tadashi asked and for a while, Hiro saw the insecurity in his voice.

 

“Is that why you made Baymax?” Hiro asked. He didn’t know if it was too personal for now but it didn’t strike it as so to the man as Tadashi just nodded.

 

“I wanted to help people, Hiro,” he said. “I don’t like feeling helpless. I felt—so helpless when my parents died and even though I was ten, I—I just thought—I don’t know.”

 

“I know the feeling,” Hiro confessed. “If maybe I was older too, maybe if I’d known some way to keep them both alive since they were right in front of me—I would’ve—but Tadashi, it’s in the past. They’re gone and believe me, I think they’re very proud of us—especially your parents.”

 

Tadashi listened to Hiro for a second before chuckling and nodding. “And they’re proud of you too,” Tadashi said before he squeezed Hiro’s shoulders one last time and dropped his hands. The lingering warmth even through these clothes on his shoulder definitely had Hiro startled for a moment. He actually wanted to keep that warmth near him a bit longer. Before his mind could comprehend deeper in, he shoved those thoughts away. They both remained silent for a second before Hiro cracked a smile.

 

He had never told anyone about this. It was weird. Hiro was never good with words and yet, with this man, he could talk about anything and the words would flow right out from his mouth. This was the closest they had achieved for real personal stuff and Hiro—once maybe he had thought that he was scared of what Tadashi would think of him for these events but now, he was glad Tadashi knew of it because he felt a bit better that Tadashi could console him somehow.

 

He also now knew about what happened to Tadashi and he felt what the man was feeling. It somehow packed up a more solid stretch in their friendship. The warmth from this bond had Hiro’s heart thumping loudly in his chest and his mind cloudy for a moment.

 

“That was some heavy stuff,” he said after a pregnant pause as Tadashi eyed the young genius and rolled his eyes. “Let’s grab something to eat now?”

 

Tadashi just smiled before he nodded. “Yeah. So, French?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welllll....first off, I apologise for the late update. I was...busy. Yeah, let's go with that. Second, I hope Hiro's family actually made sense. I think, I mean I watched how people die at the cliffs from National Geographic channels and I'm like 'hey, this could contribute to fear of heights, right?' and ya. I'm not sure if I had already explained about how Hiro's parents died but after reading through this story, I think I didn't. I think and if I did, let me know so I can delete that. //slap// Also, the Tadashi's POV is probably the next chapter. Don't worry, you guys will get a Tadashi's POV soon. ;D
> 
> Third, I hope this chapter made sense and you guys get to see some friendship developed and even maybe more? /coughs/ So, I thank you guys for liking this story, subscribing it, giving me kudos and even commenting on them! I also want to thank you to those who actually followed me on Tumblr. I feel so loved, I really do, you guys have no idea. But don't just follow me, you guys can interact with me, ask me questions or just be silly random with me. I'll be replying back with the same amount of silliness. <3 
> 
> Anyways, ya, enough rambling. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter and I really hope it made sense. Ahaha. Until the next chappie~! -Krystal
> 
> **Edited: 11/5/2015**
> 
> Where else to find me? [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/) | [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine!

 

 

**Tadashi’s POV**

 

 

He sighed softly to himself as he looked through his papers. Each document held the approval on Baymax’s launching in a few days’ time. It was a crucial time for Tadashi. This was one of his biggest and most successful inventions. A tiny smile etched on his lips when he realised that this was going to help a lot of people. Looking at his study desk in his room, his eyes landed on his family photo framed neatly and placed near his books.

 

Picking the photo frame, he looked closer to his mother and father. They were smiling and they had looked so happy. There, in between them two, was Tadashi—barely six years old at that time. He wondered for a moment what they would say if they were still alive at the moment. But he couldn’t because he barely could remember how they even sounded.

 

His heart clutched tight at that thought, realising that day by day, he was slowly forgetting his parents. It scared him from the core, wondering if one day he would wake up and realise that he had gotten used to the thought that he had no parents from the beginning. Sighing again, his mind reeled to Hiro.

 

He closed his eyes momentarily when he recalled at how Hiro’s parents died. It was tragic and traumatic. How could a child so young had gone through so much and still managed to live each day without breaking down? The vacant look on the younger genius made Tadashi forgo his own pains just to aid him. The thought that he wasn’t alone in this made him feel slightly better.

 

Hiro—Hiro Hamada. Tadashi didn’t know when his rivalry had begun revolving into something deeper but when it did, it was too late for Tadashi to forget them. It was embedded deep inside of his heart and it wouldn’t let his heart go. The first time he realised he liked Hiro more than what it seemed was during last year’s National Young Scientist Awards.

 

He had just looked at Hiro that night who was sitting across him and suddenly, he felt warm and fuzzy inside. It took him three hours of uncomfortable heart beats and muddled up brain to realise that he was in it too hard and deep. And then, it took him a week of isolation from Hiro to finally understand that maybe, this feeling wasn’t so bad.

 

He didn’t know why he started liking Hiro at first but when he came in terms with his feelings, he started noticing the younger genius’s quirks and details. Like how when he faked his smile, the corners of his lips would twitch so subtly or like how if Hiro hated someone, he would glare holes in that person until the said person felt like he had died. Tadashi was mostly that said person who received those glares from the very beginning even though he never understood why.

 

Somehow, the younger genius got into his heart deep and woven himself around his logic that Tadashi felt less stable sometimes. And then, before he knew it, he was trying really hard to make Hiro notice him and not hate him. He wanted the young genius to just look at him and not flash hatred or anger for whatever reasons that Tadashi had no idea of.

 

It all boiled down into frustration about a week ago or so when he accidentally spilled his feelings for the boy. Awkward silence ensued before Tadashi decided that if he needed Hiro to look at him, he had to start by making a grand declaration and thus—a seduction plan was made. But after that, when he was in his own apartment without anybody looking at him or observing him, he felt his heart pick up speed and his face reddening.

 

His mind was screaming at him for making such a haste move. Before he knew it, he had slumped to the ground, his back to the door and wondered out loud just what in the world did he get himself into.

 

The seduction plan, which he had no prior experience of, was quite innocent and not that grand gestured. Sure, he gave Hiro a present or a gift once a day but they weren’t big and they weren’t that personal. And yet, the look of surprise or better yet, the look of contentment on Hiro’s face whenever he received them made Tadashi’s day.

 

He knew that it was a long shot. Nobody was stupid enough to fall in love with someone they had hated for such a long time—at least not now. So, when Hiro told him that day that he wanted Tadashi to forget about this plan and just start a friendship with him, Tadashi took it with a stride.

 

It was better than resentment from his object of affection. He also knew deep down inside that Hiro might never look at him the way he looked at Hiro. The boy might simply brush everything else away and finally settle on just being friends. That thought didn’t really bother Tadashi as it should.

 

He was mostly accepting to whatever the results were. As long as he had some degree of Hiro’s attention, he was content. And then, he showed Baymax to Hiro and something between them revolved again. Maybe it was only Tadashi feeling it but he supposed he felt something shift between them.

 

 _Wishful thinking_ , he muttered plainly in his mind before sighing. Standing up from his seat, he looked around for his jacket, ready to head back to his lab. Just because he was done with Baymax didn’t mean he was done with everything else. Once he found his jacket, he took his car key and wallet before walking out of his room.

 

Heading to the kitchen, he grabbed his smartphone and sighed one last time before he walked to the front door and tapped in his security code. Once the door clicked, he opened it and walked out, closing the door immediately.

 

He glanced at the door next to his and smiled, wondering if Hiro was still inside or if he had gone out. Shaking his head from the thoughts, he made his way to the elevator, getting ready for his day.

 

* * *

 

He walked into his lab, immediately greeted by machines and the soft beeping noises of the electronics against the wall. He ran his fingers through his hair as he walked up the stairs, smiling softly to himself when he saw Baymax. He was charging at the moment, he noted before he pressed on the activate button on the white fluffy bot.

 

Baymax introduced himself like usual before he scanned Tadashi and concluded that he was fine. However, Tadashi just patted Baymax and decided to leave him out open for company. Baymax walked out from his red box and moved about, somehow as if it was curious of things around him.

 

Tadashi just leaned against his desk and crossed his arms against his chest, chuckling softly when Baymax stopped following Tadashi and was now looking at a screwdriver. Picking it up, Baymax scanned it before looking at Tadashi. “This is a screwdriver.”

 

“Yeah, it is,” Tadashi agreed as he grinned at Baymax.

 

“What is the purpose of this screwdriver—ah, I have found its purpose in the internet. Did you use this to make me?” Baymax asked as he looked at Tadashi. Tadashi smiled before nodding.

 

“Partially, I suppose,” he said as Baymax dropped the screwdriver back on the table.

 

Baymax went back to scanning other things, occasionally asking questions about the new things he found and their purposes. Tadashi couldn’t help but to wonder what it would be like without Baymax anymore. If Baymax was accepted and signed off to a production company, he wondered if he could keep this Baymax.

 

He somehow had grown attached to him and he knew it was going to pose some problems later on. Shrugging away at the thought, his attention was brought to his smartphone when it began to ring. Fishing his phone out from his pockets, he raised his eyebrows when he saw an unknown number.

 

“Huh,” he said before he slid the green button and placed the phone against his ears. “Hello?”

 

“Tadashi?” the voice asked as Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows, wondering who could it be.

 

“Yeah, speaking,” he said as he looked around his lab. “Who’s this?”

 

“Abigail,” the voice spoke with a hint of humour at the edge of her voice. “Abigail Callaghan?”

 

“Abigail!” Tadashi said as he nodded, a grin making way on his lips. “What can I do for you?”

 

“Nice of you to finally remember me,” she said.

 

“Sorry,” Tadashi apologised only to have a brisk laugh as a response from her.

 

“Apology accepted,” she said cheekily. “I saw the online news. Finally launching him, aren’t you?”

 

Tadashi smiled, knowing exactly what she was trying to say. Professor Callaghan had helped Tadashi with the coding once and somehow, his daughter known about it too. He didn’t really get to meet her in person until at London and it was an honour as she had achieved a lot in her life in her early twenties.

 

“Well, he’s been approved and he’s working fine,” Tadashi said, drawling out. “Yeah, he’s going to be sent to Tokyo for the opening ceremony a day before Valentine’s day.”

 

“Congratulations, Tadashi,” she said.

 

“Thanks,” he said before sighing. “It’s going to be hard letting him go though.”

 

“Ah, someone’s getting a little too attached with Mr. NurseBot?” Abigail asked, her voice sounding chirpy. Tadashi just rolled his eyes as he looked ahead towards Baymax, who decided to scan a piece of paper lying on the ground.

 

“Maybe,” he said slowly.

 

“You can always request him back,” Abigail said. “You can ask for a permanent copyright. More like—borrowing him until they made the first few batches of him and then you can have him back.”

 

“Do you think so?” he asked as he bit his bottom lip.

 

“Worth a shot,” Abigail said. “But even if you have to sell the copyright, he is always and will always be yours. I wouldn’t worry much if I were you. You’re going to be with him at every step of the way.”

 

Tadashi hummed out a response before silence took over between them. “So,” she started. “Hiro, huh?” Tadashi blinked at the name of the young genius. “He’s kinda cute.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Tadashi said slowly. “Like young ones, huh?” he teased only for Abigail to huff out loud from the other side.

 

“Please, I like older men,” she said. “No, I mean, he’s only nineteen and he’s so accomplished.”

 

Tadashi couldn’t help but to smile at that. “He’s—different.”

 

“Indeed and I have been following him like some fan girl since the beginning,” she said as she laughed a bit. “But I don’t think he likes me very much.”

 

Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows at that. “What makes you think that? He only just met you.”

 

“Trust me,” she said. “I think I have a good sense of reading people and Hiro—he doesn’t like me much. Maybe he finds me threatening or intimidating.”

 

“Of what?” Tadashi asked. “Maybe you’re just over-reading the situation.”

 

Abigail kept quiet for a moment before she sighed. “I guess,” she said. “Well, I have to go now. Meeting and all of that.”

 

“I can sympathise,” he said before he nodded. “Well, I’ll see you then?”

 

“Will do,” she said. “Bye, Tadashi.”

 

Tadashi greeted her goodbye before he shut his phone off, biting his lips as he sighed. Hiro disliked Abigail? He couldn’t fathom why. Then again, Hiro did have the tendency to hate people before he knew them. Or was it insecurity and trust issues? Tadashi hummed out that thought before deciding that he would find out about that soon enough. Rubbing his face, he placed his phone on the table and decided to start working on his other projects. Just because he had finished one didn’t give him the pass to stop inventing more.

 

* * *

 

Henry had called him after a few hours, reminding him that tomorrow, he was going to meet with the organisers who were going to help him in Japan. Tadashi almost grinned at that thought, remembering his roots for a moment. He was a bit rusty in Japanese but he guessed he could manage. Sighing, he finally decided to get something light to eat. Maybe a slice of sandwich or a bar of Sneakers.

 

Shutting Baymax off, he soon found himself walking out of his lab and getting into his car, driving back to the heart of San Fransokyo. He wondered for a while if he should stop by a convenience store and buy his food but then, while he was driving around, he found a café.

 

The café was homely looking and it intrigued him. So, he parked his car along the roadside and got out. He smiled a bit when he saw how it looked family-like, almost as if it was made out of love and pure sweetness. Tadashi took his sunglasses and wore it against his face, realising how hot the sun was for the mid-day.

 

Walking closer to the café, he looked through the place from the windows, noting how it was busy inside. He then pushed open the doors with a slight ding before the aroma of cakes and coffee had hit him hard. He slowly pushed away the sunglasses to the top of his head before walking further inside until he saw the cakes and pastries on the shelves inside a glass showcase box near the cashier counter.

 

“Hello, welcome to my café!” a woman’s voice cheered out as Tadashi looked away from the pastries to the woman. He smiled warmly at her before he nodded. She didn’t look old, maybe about in her thirties and there was a man, helping her to serve out the orders before retreating back to the kitchen. Her smile froze on her face once she looked at Tadashi and then, her eyes widened. “You’re Tadashi!”

 

Tadashi immediately scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he said. “Tadashi Hamada.”

 

The woman grinned brightly before she ushered Tadashi to sit at one of the empty seats, immediately deciding that he would need a glass of orange juice. Tadashi didn’t know why he was treated this way but he would be lying if he said this was the first time he received this treatment. Some of the people in the café looked at him and smiled and Tadashi just nodded back politely.

 

He had the sudden urge to drag the sunglasses around his eyes, just so that he could no longer be the centre of anyone’s attention. The woman came back with a glass of orange juice just like she promised and placed it in front of him. “Here you go,” she said softly, her voice abhorring sweetness. Tadashi took the glass and sipped the orange juice, wondering how in the world she managed to dish out such a delicious orange juice and smiled at her.

 

“Thank you,” he said as she nodded.

 

“So, what would you like to eat?” she asked.

 

“Uhm, well, I don’t really know,” he said sheepishly as she chuckled.

 

“I think I’ll give you a piece of egg sandwich with a slice of my blueberry pie,” she said. “How does that sound?”

 

“Heavenly,” Tadashi said as she nodded and quickly wandered back to the kitchen. Tadashi seemed to just watch her move away, wondering to himself why this woman acted as if she had known Tadashi all her life. He shrugged mentally after coming up with nil answers and went back to sipping his orange juice, looking around the café as he did.

 

After a few seconds, he got bored, so he took out his smartphone and went through his messages, occasionally smiling when he received good news. After a few minutes, the woman came back with two plates, placing them both in front of Tadashi.

 

“Thank you,” he said as she smiled.

 

“No, thank you,” she said and for a moment, Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows and confusion filled his eyes. He looked at her carefully but he couldn’t find anything that would relate the fact that he knew her.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said after a while. “But do I know you?”

 

“Oh, me?” she said before she shook her head, laughing a bit. “No! Goodness, no! You know my nephew though.” Tadashi seemed to think over that for a moment before he caught onto her nametag. _Cass_ , it wrote and it took Tadashi a second to mull that name over before his eyes snapped wide and he looked at the woman.

 

“You’re Hiro’s aunt!” Tadashi declared. “You’re Cass, Hiro’s aunt, aren’t you?” Cass smiled widely before nodding.

 

“The one and only,” she said before she ushered Tadashi to take a bite out of his egg sandwich. “Do you mind if I joined you?” she asked after a moment.

 

“I don’t mind,” Tadashi said immediately, his cheeks reddening. “But don’t you have a café to run?”

 

“There aren’t any orders at the moment,” Cass said as Tadashi nodded. He took a bite out of the egg sandwich and realised that it was one of the best egg sandwich he had ever eaten. He blushed even redder at that thought and Cass grinned at him. “So, you’re _the_ Tadashi that made Hiro so riled up.”

 

Tadashi didn’t know how to respond to that. “Well—I didn’t really mean it.” He felt comfortable with Cass all of a sudden. It was as if she could make anyone feel like they could talk to her about anything. Cass nodded, smiling.

 

“I know,” she said. “Hiro just has a hard time trusting people.” Tadashi nodded, agreeing silently at her as he continued to eat.

 

“I didn’t know this café existed,” Tadashi said. “It was my first time passing by here.”

 

“That explains why I haven’t seen you in my café yet then,” she said. Tadashi just chuckled before nodding.

 

“Though, how I missed this place, I couldn’t fathom,” Tadashi said as Cass reddened a bit and a smile covered her face.

 

“That’s nice of you to say that,” she said. “I saw your invention—Baymax, I think, finally being released.”

 

“Ah,” Tadashi said as he finished his egg sandwich and sipped on his orange juice. “Yeah.”

 

“Congratulations,” she said and Tadashi couldn’t help but to turn red with her compliment and muttered a quiet ‘Thank You’ back at her. “I know you probably had heard of this a million times over but you’re definitely going to help a lot of people.”

 

Tadashi couldn’t help but to flash a smile at her. “Well, that _is_ the point.”

 

“Not many inventors and scientists do these things because they want to, you know,” Cass said softly as she smiled at him. “It makes me feel quite proud that the newer generations are still thinking about these things.”

 

“I—I always think that if I have the talent, then I should use it to bring benefits to everybody and not just to myself,” Tadashi said and Cass nodded in agreement.

 

“Very well said,” she said after a while. “I could see why you made him change his mind.” Tadashi raised his eyebrows at that before he decided to eat the first forkful of the pie, immediately wishing that he found this place earlier.

 

“This is really good, Mrs—”

 

“Oh please, call me Cass,” she said. “And thank you.”

 

“Well, I’m not really used to calling people older than me without a suffix for respect,” Tadashi said a little sheepishly.

 

Cass just smiled at him. “Then, you can call me Aunt Cass. How about that?”

 

“That I don’t mind,” Tadashi said. “I suppose you don’t like ‘Mrs or Miss’ type of things?”

 

“Not really,” Cass said as she shrugged. “Aunt Cass has a nice ring to it and it makes me feel—motherly.” Tadashi smiled at her before she sighed. Before she could continue on her conversation, someone stopped behind of her and touched her shoulders.

 

“Aunt Cass?” the voice questioned and Tadashi found himself looking at Hiro. “Uh—Tadashi,” he said slowly as he looked at him. Tadashi just smiled before shoving another forkful of that pie into his mouth.

 

“Hiro!” Cass exclaimed as she stood up and hugged him tight. “You came down for a visit.”

 

“Duh,” Hiro said with a smile as he hugged her back. “So, coffee?” Cass immediately released him before she eyed Hiro.

 

“I think you need something fresher like orange juice,” she said and Hiro groaned a bit.

 

“But Aunt Cass—”

 

“No buts,” she said before she patted Hiro on his right shoulder and walked off to the kitchen.

 

“Your aunt does make some delicious orange juice,” Tadashi said as he sipped onto the juice. Hiro immediately looked at him before he raised his eyebrows.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he decided to sit where Cass once sat, pulling off his bag from across his shoulders and placed it on one of the empty seats.

 

“Well, I just drove by here and found a place to eat,” Tadashi said as he smiled. Hiro blinked at him for a few seconds before sighing and leaning against his seat.

 

“You didn’t come down just to see my aunt, did you?” he asked, his voice lacing with suspicions. Tadashi eyed Hiro for a moment before he grinned.

 

“I’m not a stalker, you know,” Tadashi said as he ate another forkful of the blueberry pie. “If I was—I wouldn’t have to get to know you.”

 

Hiro rolled his eyes at the man before he shrugged. “You can never be too careful.”

 

Silence lapsed between them before Tadashi smiled. “Trust me, I don’t do stalking. I’m not good at it anyways.”

 

“I feel very assured,” Hiro said sarcastically but there wasn’t any venom. “I was just kidding. I’m actually surprised you haven’t seen this place yet. Not because my aunt is running this shop that I’m saying this but her pastries especially that blueberry pie you’re eating is quite legendary.”

 

Tadashi felt that same something that shifted between them yesterday coming back alive. He didn’t know if Hiro was feeling it but he definitely did. He decided to keep quiet about that and just nodded. “This blueberry pie is really good. I don’t come around here often so I haven’t gotten a chance to stop by.”

 

“And today, you just did?” Hiro asked.

 

“Yeah,” Tadashi said after a moment. Before any one of them could continue with the conversation, Cass came around with the glass of orange juice and placed it in front of Hiro. Hiro scowled at that thing almost as if that glass of orange juice had done him some kind of personal grudge. Tadashi bit his bottom lip from chuckling as he finished the pie.

 

“Now, come on, Hiro,” Cass said. “You can’t go drinking coffee every time you feel like it. It’s black coffee at that and you’re too young to have a hyperactive brain. It’s enough you have it at overload most of the time.”

 

“Hey!” Hiro protested but soon reigned himself from pouting and decided to just drink the orange juice. Cass then looked back at Tadashi and smiled.

 

“It was nice meeting you, Tadashi,” she said and Tadashi smiled back at her.

 

“Likewise,” he said as Cass nodded.

 

“You two talk now. Will I be seeing you around, Tadashi?” she asked and Tadashi just grinned.

 

“Absolutely.” Satisfied with that answer, Cass nodded and walked away, leaving Hiro to drink the orange juice and raised his eyebrows at Tadashi.

 

“You sure you just met her?” he asked. Tadashi just shrugged before leaning against his seat.

 

“Your aunt has a way of making the other person talking feel really comfortable,” Tadashi said. “She makes me feel nice inside.”

 

Hiro nodded in agreement. “She does, doesn’t she?”

 

A pregnant pause, but a comfortable one, passed on between them as Tadashi looked away from Hiro to around the place. He felt something giddy washing into his mind, knowing that he wasn’t the object of Hiro’s hatred anymore and in fact, Hiro was making some kind of effort to know that he wanted to be friends with Tadashi.

 

It made him feel relaxed at that, knowing he had some kind of connection with the young genius and for once, it wasn’t rivalry nor was it hatred. It was just pure friendship. A few more moments passed before Tadashi sighed. “The ceremony will be held at Tokyo.”

 

Hiro looked at him and raised his eyebrows. “Ah,” he said. “When?”

 

“A day before Valentine’s day,” Tadashi said. “On the thirteenth.”

 

Hiro nodded to himself before a smile graced his lips. “Baymax’s going to be a hit immediately. I can tell.”

 

“He would, wouldn’t he?” Tadashi said with a cheeky grin. “But it’s quite sad to let him go.”

 

“I would have a hard time letting him go too if I were you,” Hiro said as his voice slowed down. “Even though I only met him for about five minutes, I’m already wishing to meet him again.” Tadashi immediately looked at Hiro in the eyes and a few awkward seconds passed when he saw Hiro’s face reddening. “Uh—well—you know, if I—not that I wanted to see him again, wait I mean—”

 

Tadashi ended up chuckling at Hiro, wondering what had gotten the young genius so flustered up. “You can come and see him anytime you want before the Tokyo trip, you know.”

 

If anything, Hiro reddened even more and the younger genius quickly sipped onto his orange juice and averted his eyes. Tadashi couldn’t help but to feel intrigued at that look on Hiro’s face. It was quite nice to see that Tadashi could make him react like that. A smile tugged on his lips but he didn’t let it show—afraid it would come out as too creepy.

 

“I can?” Hiro asked quietly as he looked back at Tadashi.

 

“Sure, why not?” Tadashi said as he grinned. “He’s fun to be around with.”

 

“You seem to spend a lot of time with him then,” Hiro said and Tadashi couldn’t help but to feel embarrassed at that.

 

“He’s—fun.”

 

Hiro didn’t make any comments on that but he did smile, as if assuring Tadashi that it was fine. The older man simply sipped onto the last drops of his orange juice. “So, are you coming to the launching then?”

 

“Tokyo?” Hiro asked as he sighed and rubbed his face. “I’m not sure, Tadashi.”

 

“Oh,” Tadashi said, somehow feeling slightly disappointed.

 

“Not that I don’t want to!” Hiro immediately said as he sat up straighter. Tadashi looked at him and gave him a wry smile. “I mean—it’s your night, Tadashi.”

 

“I don’t mind, you know,” Tadashi said after a second. “You can expect more of me and you can hang around with me anytime you like. If you insisted on coming along to Tokyo with me, I’ll gladly let you come with me. Nothing would make me happier.”

 

Hiro bit his bottom lip for a while as his cheeks reddened again and for a moment, a silent wash of panic took over Tadashi. Did he overstep some kind of boundary? “Ah, well, it’s alright if you don’t want to—”

 

“I’ll try to make it,” Hiro said after a second, cutting Tadashi off. Tadashi looked at Hiro for a moment, just observing him for any signs of discomfort and smiled sincerely when he couldn’t find one. Instead, Hiro seemed—shy at least.

 

“Okay,” Tadashi said, knowing it was as good as an answer he would get from Hiro. After that, both of them reverted back to talking about other things before Hiro introduced Teo—Cass’s boyfriend to Tadashi since he was there at that time.

 

By the time Tadashi left the café and decided to head around the bookstore nearby, he thought to himself that for once in his life since his parents had died, he actually felt belonged. Hiro, despite losing his parents, had such a great aunt and her boyfriend made a great uncle to him. He couldn’t help but to feel slightly jealous that Hiro had the warmth of a family but still was glad at the same time that at least his object of affection got some kind of love from someone.

 

Tadashi leaned against his driver’s seat and sighed, adjusting the black sunglasses against his face as he started the car. He would do anything to have Hiro’s type of family and it was a pity that nobody in his parents’ side wanted him. Shrugging that thought of, he decided that it wouldn’t do him any good to drown himself in self-pity now.

 

And so, he drove away, his mind thrumming at the faint echoes of happiness as he got to speak to Hiro today. He had able to elicit new emotions from the younger genius and somehow, he catalogued them for reasons he had no idea why. His day would always be slightly brighter whenever he got to see or talk to Hiro. The younger genius just had that effect on him.

 

* * *

 

He entered the bookshop with his sunglasses pushed up to his head. He wondered around the Fiction aisle before settling under the Science Magazines aisle. He went through one by one of the magazines before one of them caught his eyes. It always amazed him how the everyday types of inventions were revolving nowadays. He also saw some magazines covering about Baymax and decided to ditch those magazines.

 

He didn’t really wanted to know what they were saying about him, it was never worthwhile. He would find out about what they thought in the conferences anyway. As he went through the magazines, his phone rang for the third time or so that day. Quickly fishing the phone out, he slid the green button on the phone without looking at the caller’s ID and placed it against his ears.

 

“Hello?” he called out. A few seconds of silence accompanied him before a voice drawled out on him with a cheerful hello back.

 

“Hello, Tadashi!”

 

Tadashi blinked for a few seconds before a grin broke on his face and he placed the magazine back on the shelf. He knew exactly who it was in an instant. “Well, look who is calling.”

 

“Yes, it’s me,” the voice said.

 

“Honey,” Tadashi greeted her with a grin. “Haven’t heard from you in a while.”

 

“Sorry, Tadashi,” Honey apologised. “I was so busy trying to get these chemicals to bind together and you know—I finally managed to stabilise the compounds. So, guess what?”

 

Tadashi raised his eyebrows at that, noting the excitement in her voice. “What?”

 

“I’m coming down to San Fransokyo.”

 

Tadashi blinked at that news for a few seconds before he chuckled. “That’s great!”

 

“I finally managed to finish my prototype for my new invention in Germany,” Honey Lemon said as she squealed happily. “And I decided to finally come back home.”

 

“That’s really great,” Tadashi said. “Congratulations by the way.”

 

“Thank and to you too for Baymax,” she said. “Finally managed it, didn’t you?”

 

“It wasn’t easy,” Tadashi said after a while. “When are you coming home?”

 

“My flight is tonight,” she said. “Probably by tomorrow evening. I’ll come down to see you maybe for dinner.”

 

“I see,” Tadashi said as he smiled. “It’s good to have you back, Honey.”

 

“It’s good to be back, Tadashi,” she said. “Apparently the news predicted I would be back for you in time for Valentine’s day.”

 

Tadashi rolled his eyes at that. “Their speculations are quite right, aren’t they?”

 

“I wouldn’t call it speculations, Tadashi,” Honey said. “Well, more like misinformation.”

 

“They don’t think we could ever be just friends,” Tadashi said as he finally decided to exit the bookstore. “Haven’t we cleared up that lover’s rumour?”

 

“Ah,” Honey said with a chuckle. “The rumours don’t die. They just evolve.”

 

“And they have evolved with us being together,” Tadashi said as he walked to his car. “Honey, when you come back here, there’s going to be even more ruse about us.”

 

“I know. We tried telling them we’re not together and yet they still think we are,” she said with a sigh. “Well, it will all die away once they found out about my new invention! They’ve got blinding colours as one of the features. And guess what? They literally blind someone.”

 

Tadashi couldn’t help but to grin at her explanation on the invention. “I’m sure it will keep the crime rates low.”

 

“I hope so,” Honey Lemon said with a slight nervous leak into her voice. “I have to pack now. I’ll see you soon?”

 

“I’ll see you soon, Honey,” Tadashi said as they said their goodbyes. He shook his head as he remembered the first rumours revolving around them as a couple. Tadashi never really looked at her as someone more than friend—a sister at most. He never knew why they speculated them together so often and after a while of denying them, they decided to let this rumour go on since they would only waste their time if Tadashi and Honey kept on denying them.

 

Shrugging off those thought, he got into his car and decided to just go back home for now. He smiled remembering that Honey was coming back. It had been a while since he had last seen her. The last time he had seen her, it was a few months ago. She had gone to Germany after that once she discovered that they had the elements needed to make her inventions into a reality. And now, after succeeding, she was coming back home.

 

With all the thoughts humming in his mind, he leaned into his seat and drove home, the radio playing on some songs about love triangles and hard-core heart-breaking love and for a moment, Tadashi felt as if someone was trying to predict his future. Quickly changing the radio channel, he sighed in relief when a classical piece was on.

 

“Songs these days,” Tadashi muttered as he kept his eyes on the road, listening to Mozart.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here you guys go~! A look inside of Tadashi's daily life and inside of his head. It was fun writing his POV. But I had to also be cautious because I might accidentally write some contradicting information. But anywho, I hope you guys liked this chapter despite it being slightly shorter than usual. It's still 5000+ words of Tadashi though, so truce? Sorry once again for the late update but the internet in my house was temporarily gone. Even now, I'm only temporarily on and therefore, I couldn't be on much. T.T
> 
> I thank you all for the comment, kudos, subs and also bookmarks! It makes my day much more meaningful~ Let me know what you guys think of this chapter too! I also would like to thank those who had sent me questions on Tumblr. It was fun talking to you guys, so keep on sending me questions or simple conversation lines and I'll try and respond in time! Anyways, enough that, until next chappie! -Krystal
> 
> Where else to find me? [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/) | [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine!

 

 

 

Hiro looked at his calendar before sitting against his seat heavily. Huh, Valentine’s Day was just around the corner. A cold shudder went down his spine as he sighed.  He recalled of the ex-bet he had done with Tadashi.

 

_I’ll seduce you and make you fall for me._

 

Hiro bit his bottom lip as his cheek reddened. Well, Tadashi certainly knew how to sound—sexy if he wanted to but he didn’t really make Hiro ‘fall for him’ as Tadashi would have liked. Yesterday, he found Tadashi in his aunt’s café talking to Cass. He mused at the scene inside of his head, smiling to himself when he recalled how his aunt had grabbed him by the arm once Tadashi left and told him that the man was certainly a great guy.

 

Hiro had to agree with his aunt there. Tadashi was a great guy. He was nice, kind and he usually listened to Hiro whenever he could. He was never demanding or pushy. He was just—Tadashi. In a different lifetime, if Hiro wasn’t contemplating any romantic gestures from him, it would seem that Tadashi would make a great big brother.

 

Chuckling at that thought, he pushed them away and looked at his tablet which was lying on his desk. Picking it up, he opened his news feed icon and looked through. He saw some articles about Baymax and it made him smile.

 

Baymax was certainly cute. Hiro wanted to see more of Baymax actually. He wanted to just—talk to him and see what else that cute little nursebot could do. Maybe he would soon. Hiro thought back to his schedule and realised that he had an interview with a live audience tonight. He really wanted to skip going anywhere tonight though.

 

Looking through more news feed until he landed on the ‘currently trending’ topic, his eyes caught onto the word ‘Honey’ and stopped. His eyes blinked at the headlines of the news before he clicked on it. Reading through the article, his heart stopped beating for just a millisecond before he felt something akin to anger or maybe—something acidic-like making way into his heart.

 

_Honey Lemon’s Coming Home?_

 

That was the title and Hiro realised that some of the photographers had taken pictures of Honey coming out from the airport with her goofy pink coloured sunglasses on. He read in further of the news and all indication from the article told Hiro that she was back for Tadashi.

 

A sharp feeling stabbed him in the chest before he tossed the tablet on the table and frowned. He had completely forgotten about Honey. _Tadashi’s girlfriend_ , Hiro reminded himself bitterly. A thought passed through his mind wondering if Tadashi was truly genuine with his feelings for Hiro.

 

But after a while, Hiro dismissed it. He had enough evidence from Tadashi to know that his feelings for the young genius were indeed genuine. But that didn’t eliminate the fact that Tadashi didn’t tell him anything about Honey. If she was really his girlfriend, shouldn’t Tadashi at least told him about her by now?

 

Maybe just a slip of the tongue?

 

But nothing. Hiro had completely forgotten about her and Tadashi didn’t bring her up.

 

 _Of course he wouldn’t_ , his mind chided. _He’s into you, remember?_

 

He got up from his chair and decided to head outside. He had just returned to his apartment after a morning lecture in SFIT for the robotics major students. Now, after an hour rest, he was ready to head back outside, this time maybe stopping by a bookstore or something. He didn’t really have a plan for this afternoon since his night was booked by the interview.

 

Grabbing his bag and shoving his smartphone and wallet inside, he walked out of his bedroom and headed to the front door. Opening the door after punching in the security code, he walked out to the silent hallway. After he had closed the front door, his attention was immediately grabbed by the door—Tadashi’s door—opening.

 

What he didn’t expect was some girl walking out from there.

 

Hiro froze where he stood as he stared at the girl. The girl was humming to a song as she closed the door and adjusted her sunglasses on her face. She turned around and immediately stopped humming when she spotted Hiro. The young genius continued on staring at her until she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head.

 

“Ah,” she stated as she smiled vibrantly at him and Hiro then knew who it was. “You must be Hiro!”

 

“Uh,” Hiro said as he blinked. “Yeah.”

 

She quickly lessened the distance between them and held out her hand. “Hi! I’m Honey. Honey Lemon!”

 

Hiro felt something sharp and prickly edging in his heart and a sudden urge to just slap her hand away overwhelmed him. However, before he could act on it, he grabbed her hand and shook it shortly before letting go. “I’m Hiro—Hamada.”

 

“Hamada,” she teased and Hiro frowned. She immediately noticed the change of expression on Hiro’s face and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, I tend to be quite—bubbly.”

 

“I’ll say,” Hiro found himself saying before he could even stop himself. Honey dropped her grin and blinked at Hiro. An awkward silence took over before she looked away.

 

“Oh,” she said.

 

“Uhm, sorry,” Hiro said. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

 

She looked back at Hiro for a moment before shrugging. “It’s alright.”

 

Hiro just stood there for a few more seconds before looking away. “I uh, gotta go.”

 

“Alright, I’ll see you soon?” she asked and Hiro just nodded curtly before turning around. He quickly walked away from her and headed to the elevator.

 

Once he was inside the elevator, he noticed that Honey hadn’t followed him in. He was secretly glad he didn’t have to be in the same space as Honey and immediately groaned under his breath. The door of the elevator slid closed and Hiro contemplated for a moment. He had reacted quite horribly prior meeting Honey Lemon.

 

He didn’t like her.

 

He knew enough of this feeling for him to be oblivious about it.

 

He disliked Honey Lemon.

 

Now, the question remained as to why he disliked her.

 

He had always disliked the thought of Tadashi before and now that he knew him a bit better, he was—surprisingly—fond of him. Now, maybe it was the same with Honey Lemon. But the sharp tug in his heart told him otherwise. It told him that no matter how much time he spent with Honey Lemon, he would never truly come to terms in liking her.

 

Hiro mused at that thought for a moment before the elevator doors opened and Hiro walked out. Just then, he realised that Honey had come out from Tadashi’s apartment. That mere singular thought made Hiro stop walking. He furrowed his eyebrows at the sudden wash of discomfort inside.

 

He didn’t like the idea that Honey was in Tadashi’s place either.

 

He slowly began walking again as he contemplated and analysed his feelings even more. Why this did suddenly start rubbing him in the wrong way? After finally coming to nothing conclusive, Hiro pushed away those thoughts to the back of his mind and decided to head on with his plans.

 

* * *

 

 

“Did you see the news feed?” Gogo asked as she pushed the tablet in front of Hiro.

 

“Looks like Tadashi’s long love has returned home,” Wasabi said as he looked at Hiro from the corner of his eyes.

 

Hiro was a fool to think that maybe nobody was talking about Honey’s magnificent return. He growled at that thought internally before he shot Wasabi a glare. They were currently in Starbucks; just drinking some iced lemon tea for Hiro (for the first time ever besides coffee) meanwhile Gogo was drinking her latte and Wasabi drinking his strawberry milkshake.

 

Hiro leaned into his seat and pushed the tablet away from him. “So?” he questioned, sounding chipped even to himself. Gogo raised her eyebrows at him as she took back the tablet and turned it off.

 

“Someone’s cheery,” she said and Hiro just rolled his eyes at her.

 

“Guys,” he started. “So, she came back. Big deal! It’s nice that Tadashi’s having a date for Valentine’s Day.”

 

“‘It’s _nice’_?” Wasabi questioned. Hiro nodded before he pursed his lips. He sipped his drink and he leaned into his seat deeper.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said. “Yeah, nice.”

 

“You okay?” Gogo asked as she eyed him. Hiro looked at her before he raised his eyebrows.

 

“Yeah! I’m fine,” he said as he flicked his wrist dismissively. “I’m fine.”

 

A stare from Wasabi and a raise of Gogo’s eyebrows later, Hiro rolled his eyes. “I am fine. Deal with it.”

 

“Uh, right,” Wasabi said. “So, you’re fine with Honey staying with Tadashi?”

 

Hiro choked in his drink before he slammed the cup on the table. Sudden anger washed into him as he looked at them both. “What?” he questioned before he sighed. “I’m fine. It’s not like we’re dating or anything. We’re friends. _Just friends_.”

 

His heart wasn’t listening though. It was squeezing harshly inside of his chest. He didn’t like feeling like this. The thought of Honey sharing a living space with Tadashi made him feel— _upset_. He was upset. Hiro furrowed his eyebrows at that before he looked at his friends. Gogo was just staring at him before she smiled meanwhile Wasabi rolled his eyes and looked away.

 

“What?” he questioned.

 

“What?” Gogo mimicked.

 

“No, seriously, what?” Hiro asked.

 

“And we’re serious too, _what_?” Gogo said and Hiro frowned at her. After a pregnant pause, she sighed. “You sure you’re alright? With Tadashi staying with Honey? You’re not…I don’t know, jealous?”

 

Hiro was glad he wasn’t drinking right now because if he was—he would’ve ended up spitting the drink out onto Gogo. Wasabi snorted as he grinned at Hiro. The young genius’s face reddened at the thought before he shook his head. “ _No_!” he said. “I’m not! Why should I? I mean— _what_? You’re— _No_!”

 

Wasabi just looked at Hiro before he shrugged. “Okay,” he said. Hiro narrowed his eyes at Wasabi.

 

“Okay?” he asked.

 

“You’re not jealous, we get it,” Wasabi said. “Dude, seriously, okay.”

 

Hiro just eyed his friends before he shrugged their odd behaviour and went back to sipping his drink. He felt weird inside today and he really didn’t know why. Lately, these feelings would act up. Hiro started to freak out the first few times but then he got used to it—somehow even liking it. “Have you talked to Tadashi today?” Gogo asked.

 

“No,” Hiro said. “Haven’t seen him around.”

 

“Maybe he’s just busy,” she assured him. Hiro looked at her and shrugged.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Or with Honey,” Wasabi said and that earned a sharp kick from Gogo.

 

“ _Wasabi_!” Gogo exclaimed in disagreement. Hiro frowned when he felt himself deflating at the thought. They _did_ look good together, Hiro mused gently in his mind before he sighed.

 

“I’m going to head to the lab, guys,” Hiro said with a smile and got up. “I’ll see you guys soon.”

 

Gogo looked at him worriedly for a second before nodding. “Okay,” she said.

 

* * *

 

 

Hiro did end up in the lab but if he thought just for a moment he was about to get anything done, he was in for a surprise. He just couldn’t concentrate. He would look at the calculations in front of him and then before he knew it, his mind was drifting off elsewhere—mostly returning back to Honey.

 

He sighed for the fifteenth time that day and slammed his pen down harshly on the table. He was done trying to make sense of the work in front of him when all he could think of was about Tadashi. And Honey Lemon. Mostly them being together. _Close_.

 

And that irked Hiro. He just met Honey and he was already judging her badly. Why? He rubbed his face as he leaned into his chair, looking up to the ceiling and wondering why he was feeling this way. He started to analyse his feelings from the core once more. He was happy when he was with Tadashi. He was—connecting with someone unlike before. He was listened to and he was cared for, even though Tadashi was trying to be subtle.

 

But there was more. Were Hiro’s feelings for Tadashi purely platonic then?

 

He hummed out as he mulled the thought in his mind. _Was_ it platonic? It could be, he muttered inside but somehow, he never felt this way about Gogo or Wasabi before and they were his platonic friends. With Tadashi, there was something different. There was more hidden inside behind the simple feelings of friendship.

 

There was _more_. Hiro’s eyes widened at that before he looked down to his lap. His cheeks were blazing red as he shut his whole entire thinking process down. He took in a deep breath before he stood up, panic building up inside of him. Alright, so there was something _more_.

 

He didn’t think he would ever come to that but sure, let Hiro assume that he was feeling something more than just friendship for Tadashi. _Now_ , he told his mind. _Let’s go back to when these feelings started to change_.

 

He dated back his change until it stopped to Tadashi opening up to him about his parents. He frowned at that because after that, he found that all of his feelings for Tadashi were mixed up and mashed tight. He couldn’t detangle them and examine them one by one. It was futile. Hiro sighed as he looked to the floor and glared.

 

There was something more and it was nibbling at the back of his mind whenever he thought about Tadashi and that said feeling got irritated when Honey came into the picture. Honey seemed like a nice girl though but he didn’t like her. He felt— _defeated_ —whenever he realised that Honey and Tadashi looked good together.

 

But why was he feeling defeated?

 

Friendship, wasn’t that what he wanted? Tadashi could date whoever he wanted and Hiro had no say in it. He frowned when he felt such discomfort in his chest.

 

At the end, he still couldn’t come out with a better conclusion because all that he could understand was that he was feeling something more than platonic and he wasn’t sure what.

 

 _Great chat there, Heart_ , Hiro muttered darkly. For a moment, he thought he heard his heart cackling at him evilly.

 

* * *

 

 

Hiro had decided to return home before heading for the interview tonight. He was walking to his apartment when he saw Tadashi coming out from his own apartment, Honey trailing him out. She was laughing meanwhile Tadashi was grinning at her. For a moment, Hiro felt something dark washing into him and he bawled his fingers into a fist before deciding to ignore them.

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi called out just as Hiro walked up to them, even though he was planning to open the door to his own apartment, walk in and slam the door shut. Hiro felt himself tense as he looked at the man and gave him a wary smile. “Hi.”

 

“Hi,” Hiro said quietly before his eyes floated to Honey, who was grinning at him. “Hi,” he said to her before looking away to his apartment door. “I have something to do tonight. See you.”

 

“Oh,” Tadashi said, sounding disappointed. “Well, I’ll see you soon then?”

 

Hiro looked at Tadashi before he sighed and smiled sincerely. “Alright,” he said before he looked at Honey and nodded. “See you too.” Honey was satisfied with that answer and nodded, waving small at him. Hiro unlocked his door and walked inside before he closed the door.

 

He didn’t know why but his chest felt numb. Touching his chest, he leaned against his door and took in a deep breath. “What’s wrong with me?” he asked furiously to himself before he shook it off and walked to his bedroom.

 

After having a shower and changing into more appropriate attire, he decided to ditch his bag and grab his smartphone and wallet. When he walked out of his apartment, he felt the sharp pang of loneliness taking over from inside and for a minute, his steps to the elevator faltered.

 

Then, he realised, he didn’t actually hang out with Tadashi today.

 

He didn’t see and talk to him properly. He was too busy with Honey though, Hiro mused in his mind and a sudden wash of distaste took over. Hiro cleared his throat as he got into the elevator once the doors opened. Maybe he needed this after all. He was getting too attached to Tadashi. Maybe the man thought he needed space from Hiro as well.

 

He didn’t want Tadashi the way he wanted Hiro, so what right did he have to feeling this way? It was as if he wanted Tadashi to focus only on him and that was selfish, Hiro reminded himself even though his heart disagreed whole heartedly. Tadashi maybe wanted to move on and Hiro should let him.

 

 _But didn’t he say he liked me?_ Hiro mused as he leaned against the elevator wall. _But he never told you the exact words_ , his mind corrected him and Hiro felt something akin to coldness ripping through his consciousness.

 

It was true, Tadashi never said those exact words. Maybe—maybe it was just a stage after all. A phase, Hiro said slowly to himself internally and winced at how lonely they sounded. Did he want Tadashi to like him that way?

 

Why?

 

Did he return Tadashi’s sentiment?

 

And before he could analyse it any deeper, the _ding!_ from the elevator brought Hiro’s attention back to reality. With that, he walked out of the elevator with a small frown settling on his face. He sighed as he decided he would visit his aunt after this. Maybe he needed someone to shower him with some common sense.

 

* * *

 

 

The interview—overall—was exhausting. Hiro wanted nothing more but to sink in his bed and sleep but since he was already standing in front of his aunt’s now closed café, he decided he would just crash for the night here. His aunt had unlocked the door and let him in, smiling at Hiro before she sighed and ran her fingers through his hair when he laid his head on her shoulder and hugged her.

 

“You look terrible,” she stated as she pushed him away gently. Hiro just gave her a lazy smile.

 

“Hope you don’t mind me stopping by,” Hiro said as his aunt shrugged before a smile settled on her face.

 

“You are welcome here any time any day, Hiro,” she said before she patted on his right shoulder. “Why don’t you go take a shower? I’ll prepare for you something to eat. Your old clothes are still in your room.”

 

“You still kept my room?” Hiro asked as his aunt rolled her eyes at him.

 

“Of course!” she said. “Hurry along.”

 

Hiro looked at his aunt for a minute before nodding and walked away from her to the stairs. Opening the door to his room, he felt a wash of nostalgia inside of him. He smiled as he recalled his days growing up in these four walls. It always felt warm even though he had no parents. His aunt had done everything in her power to make sure he felt the love of both of his mother and father.

 

Sure, sometimes there would be days when Hiro would crawl into his bed alone and crying or maybe there would be a time where he would wake up gasping from a livid nightmare of his parent’s death and the loneliness would dawn on his so heavily that he had a hard time breathing. But there was warmth in everything else around him. It soothed him and to think he had to leave now for the sake to conserve this warmth made him grim inside.

 

Sighing, he walked to his closet and opened the doors. He smiled wider when he saw his clothes, old clothes neatly folded and placed at the cupboard floor. These clothes were worn when he was seventeen. Hiro had to admit, he hadn’t changed much from his height or weight—even though he still wished he grew a few more inches.

 

Shrugging, he grabbed his sweater and his pyjama pants before taking out a towel. With that, he proceeded to walk to the bathroom for a nice warm shower. After showering and changing, he had joined Cass in the dining hall. She had cooked some meatloaf for him. She smiled before she placed a plateful of the meatloaf and a glass full of orange juice. With that, she sat in front of him, watching him eat.

 

“So, what’s wrong?” she asked after a moment of silence. Hiro glanced up to her before he shrugged and went back to eating. She just raised her eyebrows before she rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you a slice of my blueberry pie if you tell me what’s on your mind.”

 

That got Hiro’s attention. He grinned at her before he leaned against his seat and sipped onto his orange juice. “Well,” Hiro started before he sighed and placed his fork next to the plate. “I’m just confused a bit. Needed your advice.”

 

Cass leaned into her chair and nodded. “I’m all ears.”

 

There was a moment of silence once again as Hiro tried to bring out the words he needed to express his confusion and lined them up in a sentence. After a few tries, the young genius sighed and looked at his aunt in the eyes. “I’m jealous.”

 

Cass raised her eyebrows, clearly she wasn’t expecting _that_ to come out from her nephew’s lips. She slowly nodded before she said, “Okay. You’re jealous of whom?”

 

Hiro felt his cheeks reddening before he frowned. He was jealous. At Honey Lemon. For what? He rubbed his face before he shrugged. “At someone.”

 

Cass just looked at Hiro for a moment before she nodded. Hiro shifted in his seat ever so slightly before he sighed once more. “Honey. Honey Lemon. I’m jealous of her. I think.”

 

“Honey?” Cass asked before she bit her bottom lip. “You mean—the Honey that came down to see Tadashi?”

 

“Yeah, that Honey,” Hiro said. “I met her.”

 

“Oh,” Cass said slowly. “How was she?”

 

“Nice,” Hiro said even though there was a hint of nausea at how nice Honey was. “And cheerful. Bubbly. Bright. Neon. Bright. Colourful. Did I mention she’s absolutely freaking bright?”

 

“I believe you did,” Cass said, slightly humoured at Hiro’s collection of faces. “Have you talked to Tadashi?”

 

“About what?” Hiro asked, slightly confused before he shook his head once he realised what his aunt was referring too. “What? Tell him I’m jealous of his girlfriend? Ah, no. No way,” Hiro said nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s suicide.”

 

“Is it?” she asked. “Are you even sure that the girl is his girlfriend?”

 

Hiro looked at Cass for a moment before he rolled his eyes. “Of course she’s his girlfriend! She’s—they—they’re like the golden couple or something,” Hiro muttered as he sighed.

 

“Did he say that she’s his girlfriend?” she asked. Hiro looked back at his aunt and shrugged.

 

“Well, no,” he said slowly.

 

“There, so you don’t know if he’s taken or not,” Cass said. “And besides, weren’t you the one who wanted to just stay friends with the boy? Why are you jealous of Honey?”

 

Hiro flinched at the question before he sipped onto his orange juice, contemplating on an answer. “I don’t know,” Hiro said slowly, sounding defeated. “I mean—I feel irritated. She stays with him, Aunt Cass! That’s…it makes me feel…weird.”

 

Cass nodded slowly. “What are you feeling?”

 

Hiro sighed. “I feel—different? I don’t know.”

 

Silence filled in between them before Cass hummed. “Hiro,” she started. “Don’t take this the wrong way but—have you considered the fact that maybe you like Tadashi?”

 

“Of course I like him,” Hiro said. He watched his aunt’s face for a moment before his face reddened and his chest felt constricted. No, it couldn’t be. “No,” he said. “There’s no way. I look at him as a friend! It’s barely—I—don’t…”

 

“Maybe you have a crush on him?” Cass suggested. “Or you’re merely attracted to him. Physically? No, maybe slightly emotionally?”

 

“That’s impossible!” Hiro said, his eyes widening. “I can’t—I mean—Tadashi—I don’t!”

 

“You don’t sound convinced,” Cass said. “Look, just think about it. You don’t have to rush to find an answer. Just—think about it.”

 

Hiro felt his heartbeat picking up speed and his throat drying up. It couldn’t be. He leaned into his seat as he analysed everything once more. The jealousy he had felt for Honey Lemon—it couldn’t be because he was now starting to really like Tadashi that way, right?

 

Hiro furrowed his eyebrows before he sighed.

 

He looked at his aunt before biting his bottom lip. He really didn’t know what he was feeling at the moment.

 

* * *

 

 

Hiro had gone back to his apartment early in the morning. He didn’t sleep particularly well last night even though his bed was comfortable. The words of what Cass had said was rolling in his head so much that he ended up having a terrible headache by the time he managed to sleep. And to make it even scarier, Tadashi had ended up in dreams yesterday night.

 

It wasn’t particularly explicit, instead it was a normal dream where Tadashi had laughed at what Hiro had said and Hiro—well, he felt completely calm in the man’s presence. Well, that was until Tadashi leaned in close and was ready to kiss him and Hiro had jolted awake with a gasp. He was sweating like he had run a marathon and his face felt hot.

 

After that, he barely made any eye contact with his aunt and had gone back home. Sighing, he was walking to his apartment door when Tadashi’s door opened. The said man walked out, humming a song before he closed the door and caught Hiro’s eyes.

 

The young genius was rooted on the spot immediately and his heart started beating faster. He was suddenly more aware of Tadashi and the way he casually grinned at him twirled something in his stomach. “Hiro,” Tadashi said and Hiro just licked his lips.

 

“Uh,” Hiro said dumbly before he broke eye contact and stared at his door. “Hi.”

 

Silence matched on as Hiro sighed. “Hey, you okay?” Tadashi asked and Hiro looked at him, suddenly aware of the tiny distance between them. Like an instinct, Hiro took a step back. Tadashi noticed the move and frowned for a moment before he looked back at Hiro. “Hiro?”

 

“Fine,” Hiro bit out. “I’m fine,” he said slower as he took in a deep breath. “Just tired.”

 

“Oh,” Tadashi said. “Do you—are you sure? You look red and—”

 

“Fine!” Hiro snapped before looking at Tadashi. Looking away from him, he noticed that Honey wasn’t around and he felt a tiny stab in his heart when he realised that the only reason Tadashi was here was maybe because Honey wasn’t around. He closed his eyes for a moment before he turned his back to Tadashi and punched in the security code.

 

Before Hiro could open the door and walk in, Tadashi had touched his right shoulder and squeezed it. “Hiro,” he started. Hiro flinched at the touch and quickly shrugged him off.

 

“I’m sorry,” Hiro said before he looked at Tadashi. “I—You should leave.”

 

Tadashi’s confused face was speaking volumes at Hiro and for a moment, he felt guilty. But the fact that he was slightly confused of his feelings at the moment didn’t help the matter. Before Tadashi could say anything else, Hiro had walked into his apartment and slammed the door shut on Tadashi’s face. With that, he took in a deep breath and leaned his head against the door.

 

* * *

 

 

He had cancelled everything on his schedule today. He wanted to just sit inside of his apartment and finish sorting this mess out before he did anything else. He was rummaging through his bag when he sighed in frustration and dumped the entire content out onto the bed. His eyes scanned through the items before he found Tadashi’s gifts.

 

The strawberry candy and the keychain. Hiro sat at the edge of the bed before he picked up the candy and looked at it. He needed to take a deep breath and think for a moment. He quickly unwrapped the candy wrapper and looked at the candy. It was in pink colour and it looked glassy. He wondered if he really should give the candy a try and before he could think long about it, he shoved the candy into his mouth.

 

Immediately he tasted the sweetness and almost sighed in content. The candy was absolutely tasty and sweet and even though he despised strawberries, this candy could definitely be an exception. He just felt calmer all of a sudden and he could think clearly. What his aunt had said still rung in his mind.

 

Was he attracted to Tadashi? He knew that even after the bet ended, he felt something more than just friendship for Tadashi. Sure, at the beginning, it wasn’t that big or obvious so Hiro had pushed them away but he had to admit, the same type of jealousy was present when he saw Abigail so close to Tadashi in London.

 

Why?

 

Hiro felt slightly selfish, wondering if he wanted Tadashi’s sole attention. He should know better that people were likely to leave if they felt contained and constricted and Hiro was going to make Tadashi feel just that. He hadn’t even given Honey a chance to talk to him before he made his own conclusions.

 

That was very greedy and selfish of him indeed. But he couldn’t stop himself. Tadashi was giving him everything he wanted and probably needed. He liked the attention Tadashi was giving him. But Honey was here and she—she seemed to have taken over that all of a sudden and Hiro didn’t like it.

 

So, he disliked her because he knew—deep down—that this charade would end once she was back.

 

Was that it?

 

He was feeling slightly regretful and angry at Honey because now, that sudden attention that he craved for no longer aimed at him?

 

Hiro cringed at how clingy he sounded. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and counted numbers in his messed up head.

 

Just then, his smartphone gave out a small _ping!_ indicating that he had just received a text message. Sighing, he took his smartphone and looked at the message.

 

_Remember the party? That charity event tonight? Yeah, don’t forget it. You can’t cancel this. Be at the Harley Hall at 8.00 PM. – Henry_

 

Hiro stared at the message before he sighed loudly and tossed it on the bed. He almost had forgotten about the charity event. Getting up from his bed, he headed to his closet to pick out his clothes. He couldn’t even ask a night for himself, just to mull these confusing feelings until he had come out with some conclusion.

 

But some parts of him were glad that he would be doing something else besides mulling on his thoughts and feelings. Hiro was never good with these types of things so he could understand why his logical side was glad for the distraction. Sighing, he picked out appropriate clothes for the charity event and went to the bathroom.

 

* * *

 

 

The charity event was definitely grand. Arriving at Harley Hall about three minutes before eight, he was gushed to the corner for a cup of punch while waiting for this gala to take it up a notch. This event was to contribute to those young geniuses in the world that didn’t have much opportunity to expand their thinking due certain inhibits.

 

Hiro wasn’t in much mood for socialising but those around him didn’t get the message. One by one, they found him and talked to him and Hiro had to smile and laugh even though he wanted nothing more but to sit at the corner and sulk. He was just talking to a woman about her problems in something when his eyes spotted Tadashi from the other side.

 

He was talking to someone as well, laughing and shaking his hand. But he wasn’t alone, Hiro noticed. Unlike him, he was with a date. His eyes trained on Honey for a millisecond before he looked away to the woman talking to him. The woman didn’t notice his temporary lapse of verbal communication and continued on.

 

Hiro felt the tiny stabs of bitterness working in his heart as his eyes kept on finding back the couple. _Why am I doing this?_ Hiro questioned to himself helplessly as he gave the woman a fake smile and ended the conversation with her. She, thankfully, got the hint and patted his shoulder before she walked away to torture someone else with her obscured ramblings.

 

The young genius then sipped his drink before walking around the room, hoping he would spot a secluded corner so he could just blend into the background. But when he couldn’t find that secluded corner, he just stood at the side-lines, one hand in his pants and the other holding the cup of punch.

 

Nobody bothered him after that and for twenty minutes, Hiro felt the peace settling over him before it was broken with someone stepping up to him. “Hey,” he said and Hiro looked at Tadashi before smiling.

 

“Hey,” he said before his smile faltered at the appearance of Honey next to him.

 

“We meet again!” she said happily. Hiro eyed her, noticing that she was wearing a pretty knee-length white dress with rainbow like sequins at her collar. It complimented with her personality, Hiro muttered darkly inside before giving her his famous fake smiles. Tadashi raised his eyebrows at Hiro for a moment before he looked at Honey.

 

“Your date for tonight?” Hiro asked, hoping he at least sounded casual.

 

Honey just grinned before she grabbed onto Tadashi’s arm and said, “He didn’t have anyone else to go with.”

 

“Well,” Tadashi said before he nervously shuffled on his feet. “She always makes a great plus one.”

 

“Obviously,” Hiro said before he smiled. “She _is_ your girlfriend.”

 

He didn’t know why he said it with a bitter tone, but he did and Tadashi noticed it. Honey’s grin froze on her face before her cheeks reddened and she immediately let him go. “I’m in need to eat something,” she said before she looked at Hiro and smiled warily. With that, she walked away and Hiro had to arch his eyebrows before he sipped his drink. He felt a glimmer of triumph when he saw Honey’s discomfort but it was short-lived when Tadashi chuckled awkwardly.

 

“Uh,” he said. “Hiro, I think you—god, I should’ve told you this.”

 

“What?” Hiro asked as he looked at Tadashi. He then shrugged, hoping he sounded nonchalant. “It’s alright. She—coming for you near Valentine’s Day and all, it’s sweet. Yeah.”

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi started with something akin to amusement and nervousness in his voice. “You—”

 

“Tadashi!” a man called out as he pushed through the crowd of people to get to them. Tadashi looked away from Hiro to the man before smiling. “You’re up for the speech now.”

 

“Now?” Tadashi asked.

 

“Yes, where’s Honey?” the man asked. “She’s going to have to speak with you.”

 

Hiro looked away from the conversation before he sighed. Tadashi then nodded at the man before he looked at Hiro one last time. “We need to talk,” he said quickly but Hiro was already waving at him dismissively.

 

“Later,” Hiro said and Tadashi seemed hesitant to leave but after a few seconds, he turned around and walked away. The young genius slowly rubbed the rim of his glass in slight confusion, wondering what Tadashi wanted to talk to him about. He shrugged that thought away when everyone gathered near the stage. The host introduced himself and thanked everyone for coming before he introduced Tadashi and Honey on stage.

 

“Firs off, we welcome Tadashi Hamada to the stage,” the man said as Tadashi smiled politely at the man and walked to the post. Honey was standing next to him, just drinking from her glass as her eyes glazed the crowd before looking back at Tadashi and smiling. With a nod, Tadashi started his speech. Hiro was at the edge of the crowd as he listened.

 

He felt a bit darker by each passing moment when Tadashi would crack a joke and Honey would laugh and they seemed to fit so well that he realised he wasn’t the only one who noticed it. His ears picked up some of the people around him speaking, some in awe of Tadashi, some in slight tint of envy but mostly in bliss at the couple on stage.

 

“They’re so great together, aren’t they?” a woman had said from next to him.

 

“They are,” a man agreed. “They both are talented, smart and they both are thriving to change the world we live in.”

 

Hiro had to agree that they did have a lot in common. What did he have anyway? He was only nineteen and it couldn’t mount to what those two had done together. Hiro just tried to settle down this deep twinge of bitterness in his heart every time he heard how good they looked and focused on the speech.

 

“Nobody else would look as good as these two together,” a man had said and Hiro guessed that was the last straw. He sighed before he drank every bit of the punch and waited patiently for Honey’s turn came up. She was buzzing about her new invention and she referred to Tadashi a lot with a fond smile that Tadashi returned with that same fondness.

 

After the speech, Hiro decided that he couldn’t really take it with those two flirting in front of him so heavily. He felt his mood worsening when he spotted them both hugging before Tadashi released but still managed to touch her cheeks and pinching it playfully. Honey seemed to smile wider at that.

 

“Great,” Hiro mumbled before he placed the glass he had on the tray that the waiters were carrying around and decided to leave. He was getting more and more confused and he didn’t know if he could think straight. He was about to leave when someone caught his attention. The man seemed to want to talk to Hiro and the young genius decided that he could indulge this person one last time for a good impression and then proceed to leave.

 

They talked for about a few minutes before his questions differed to Honey and Tadashi. “What did you think of those two? They’re talented and well, smart, don’t you think?”

 

It took Hiro a few seconds to gather his thoughts before he saw the mark around his neck indicating his was a journalist. Hiro just flashed him a quick smile even though it was starting to look faker by the minute. “Well, it isn’t my place to say anything. Tadashi’s personal life isn’t my important agenda.”

 

The blatant lie inside of his words almost made him wince. The man looked at Hiro for a moment before he nodded. But Hiro felt weird inside and then—something shifted. He couldn’t breathe and his heart started to yammer loudly inside of him and now, he just wanted to get out of here. “I’m sorry,” he said to the man before he walked out of the hall, heading out—anywhere far away from there.

 

He was jogging a bit before he stopped just at the sidewalk and sighed. The night breeze calmed him down but the panic and confusion was still blaring inside of him like a loud horn. Just then, someone’s footsteps walked up to him but he just wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone now. “Go away,” he said loud enough for the person to stop walking.

 

Politeness be damned.

 

“Hiro?” Tadashi said and the young genius froze before he cursed out. Turning around, he looked at the man and raised his eyebrows.

 

“What?” Hiro demanded, the confusion and panic now laced with irritation didn’t make him sound very nice.

 

“Are you okay?” Tadashi asked as he took a step forward cautiously. Hiro sighed before he ran his fingers through his hair.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I’m fine. You shouldn’t be bothered with me, Tadashi. I’m fine. Just go,” Hiro said as he waved at the man. Tadashi looked at Hiro before he frowned.

 

“You’re lying,” he said. “Come on, Hiro. What’s wrong? You suddenly running out of an event like this don’t sound like you.”

 

“I just need air,” Hiro said, sounding irritated. “Just leave it at that and go away.”

 

“Is something wrong?” Tadashi asked. His eyebrows were furrowed deep and determination shown in his eyes. However, Hiro just wanted nothing more than to be just left alone. It was enough he was having his feelings in a mess and now the said person who had done this was in front of him—questioning to why Hiro wasn’t there. Didn’t he have Honey Lemon? He should be with her! He had been with her whole night, didn’t he?

 

“No,” Hiro said as he looked at Tadashi in the eyes. “Please, go and entertain the other members and isn’t your girlfriend looking for you?”

 

“My girlfriend?” Tadashi asked. Hiro rolled his eyes before he looked away.

 

“Look, you don’t have to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, okay?” Hiro said irritated. “Just go back in there. Honey will look for you and I doubt leaving your girlfriend in there to chase out someone like me would do you any good.”

 

Tadashi remained quiet before his frown deepened. “Someone like you?” he asked. “You’re—what’s the matter with you?”

 

Hiro felt like he was trapped into a corner with Tadashi asking him the same question over and over again. This time, the anger showed itself as he glared at the man. “Nothing, alright? Go to Honey and leave me alone!”

 

“This isn’t about Honey right now,” Tadashi said. “You don’t sound so convinced with your own lie. You aren’t alright. Just tell me what’s wrong so I can work out to why you’re mad at me.”

 

“Mad?” Hiro asked. “I’m not mad at you! God, Tadashi, not everything is about you!”

 

Tadashi took another step forward to Hiro. “It certainly does seem like it right now.”

 

“I don’t have time for this,” Hiro said angrily before he started to walk away. Before he could get any further, Tadashi had grabbed onto his wrist to stop him. Hiro tried to grab back his hand but the man was strong enough to keep it within grasp. “Tadashi! Let me go!”

 

“I need you to listen to me, alright?” Tadashi started. “Honey—she isn’t my girlfriend.”

 

“What?” Hiro asked, sounding less angry and bit perplexed. “You’re joking, right? Tadashi, you don’t have to—”

 

“I’m _not_ ,” Tadashi said firmly as he squeezed onto his grip. “We’re not like that! I see her as my sister. Nothing more and nothing less.”

 

“But the tablets—”

 

“Would you rather believe me or what you read written by someone who doesn’t even know what’s going on in my life?” Tadashi asked. “Hiro, you can’t be serious.”

 

Hiro remained silent for a while, feeling something ugly brewing inside. A disappointed sigh made way from Tadashi’s lips when Hiro didn’t exactly deny. “Maybe you should date her or something,” Hiro mumbled. Tadashi immediately let his wrist go and rubbed his face.

 

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

 

“I said, maybe you should date her,” Hiro said. “You two look so good together. Like a great super-pair or something.”

 

A fraction of silence flickered through before Tadashi licked his lips in annoyance. “Hiro,” he started. “Have you forgotten about what I said to you?” Hiro looked away, feeling his cheeks reddening. “You remember, right? I like you, Hiro. I told you, I like you. And the more I got to know you, the more I—I really like you, Hiro.”

 

Hiro bit his bottom lip, feeling something warm washing in him, flicking all the bitterness and loneliness away. “I—” Hiro started but he couldn’t finish it as he looked at the man. “Everyone is—they’re so excited to see you two so good together. And she even flew all the way for you—”

 

“She didn’t,” Tadashi said before he rubbed the back of his neck. “She came down in time for Valentine’s Day but it was pure coincidence.”

 

“But she lives with you too!” Hiro exclaimed before his face reddened and he cleared his throat.

 

“Well, why not?” Tadashi asked before realisation dawned on his face. “No, Hiro. It’s not like that. I like you, alright? My feelings—right now at this moment, it’s all about you. So, what about you?”

 

Hiro’s eyes flickered back to Tadashi before he raised his eyebrows. “What about me?” he questioned. Tadashi gently took another step forward until they were both in each other’s personal space.

 

“What about you?” Tadashi repeated. “Why were you jealous?” A latch of amusement was present in his voice as Hiro’s face reddened.

 

“I wasn’t!” he exclaimed. “I—,” Hiro started but when he caught Tadashi’s brown eyes, something in him just settled down and suddenly everything slowed down. His throat went dry and his heart picked up speed and before he knew it, everything was falling into place. Hiro felt his body trembling slightly before he shook his head.

 

No, this was it after all?

 

The confusion faded into the background as he realised how good Tadashi looked. The way his hair was messed up by the wind and his face softening under the streetlights. It was like Hiro was trapped in some kind of a romcom. But then again—he shuddered at the thought as he wrapped his arms around himself.

 

Shock slowly washed into his system as he gasped at the realisation.

 

“Hiro?” Tadashi asked, sounding slightly concerned but Hiro didn’t bother with that. He was more into how deep and yet gentle Tadashi’s voice was and found himself wondering how those lips would taste. He recoiled from his thoughts as if someone had shot him in his guts.

 

“Oh god,” Hiro said, panicked out.

 

“Hiro?” Tadashi questioned again as he placed a hand on his right shoulder and squeezed it. Hiro bit his bottom lip before closing his eyes.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Hiro said.

 

“Believe what?” he asked, this time sounding confused. Hiro then opened his eyes before he looked at Tadashi and yes, now everything made sense.

 

“God, it took you standing here like this for me to realise it,” Hiro heard him mutter out loud as Tadashi looked at him even more confused.

 

“Hiro, what’s wrong?”

 

“Wrong?” Hiro questioned.

 

“Yeah, you’re—you looked dazed and red,” Tadashi said slowly.

 

“I know,” Hiro said absent-mindedly before he looked away and took a step back. Rubbing the back of his neck, he felt his cheeks flushing redder and all his jealousy making sense. “I think I know why I was jealous of Honey.”

 

“So, you _were_ jealous?” Tadashi asked with a smile. Hiro nodded before he felt something gripping tight inside of him as he uttered out the next sentence. Tadashi’s eyes widened at them before everything went still.

 

“Tadashi, I think I’m starting to like you.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I don't know, okay? Does this make sense? I mean, I think it did. Hehehe, now, Hiro, you have admitted it! Basically, if I were ever in love, I would only find out that I am until the last minute so, probably, Hiro's reaction is my reaction to these things xD Anyways, I'm sorry for the late update! I was caught up in things and well, ya. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and do let me know what you guys thought! Until next chappie~ -Krystal
> 
> Where else to find me? [Tumblr](http://thekmuniverse.tumblr.com/) | [LiveJournal](http://kmunroe.livejournal.com/)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine!

 

 

 

_“Tadashi, I think I’m starting to like you.”_

 

The silence accompanying between them was so loud that Hiro wanted nothing more than to run off. Tadashi’s face was stricken. He seemed to be in shock before he furrowed his eyebrows, confusion filling his eyes.

 

“You—like me?”

 

“I think,” Hiro added automatically before he licked his suddenly dry lips.

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi said. “I’m not sure what you’re meaning. I thought you did like me.”

 

Hiro sighed loudly before shrugging. “I mean,” he said. “I—I like you—like the way you like me, Tadashi.”

 

It only took a few seconds before the realisation dawned on his face. “ _Oh_ ,” Tadashi said slowly and Hiro nodded, shuffling on his feet. “Are you— _really_?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said. “Yeah. Yes. Yeap.” He was nervous, he could feel his mind working overdrive. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away, his cheeks feeling hotter by the second. Silence once again took over before he heard chuckles. Looking back at Tadashi, he raised his eyebrows when Tadashi grinned at him.

 

“Okay,” he said. “So, what do you want to do?”

 

Hiro shrugged once again. “I don’t know?”

 

“Do you want to be with me?” Tadashi asked gently as he took a step forward but not close enough to breach the young scientist’s personal space. “You have to be honest with me, Hiro. If you’re not comfortable with what you’re feeling, you have to tell me. I’ll always be your friend, alright?”

 

“I do want to be with you,” Hiro said quickly. “I’m just not sure how far I can take it with you.”

 

“Physically?” he asked.

 

“Emotionally as well?” Hiro said slowly. “Physically too. God, Tadashi, you just amaze me. When I first saw you, I really looked up to you, you know? But something in me snapped closed when you just shot down me like that when we studied together. And—and—somehow this rivalry watered my hatred for you and it grew. But then you actually took your time to be with me, you tried to care for me and you finally changed my perspective of you. I was confused most of the time when I’m with you, only that I really want you and I needed you. And I hate it when you’re more focused on other people than me and I know it sounds selfish but I just want it.”

 

Tadashi remained quiet, just listening to Hiro babble.

 

“And I’m sorry that I sound like a clingy brat but—you’re the first one to elicit such response from me and you can break through every wall I made by just being you! You’re amazing in so many ways and I feel—short standing next to you. I like you, Tadashi. But this is my first time liking anyone like this and the fact that you’re not a girl and still managed to sweep me off my feet makes me even more nervous inside. So, what should I do?”

 

“Well, you’re not that short when you stand next to me,” Tadashi teased. Hiro just rolled his eyes at the man.

 

“I spill my heart out and you choose to go with that?” Hiro asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Tadashi just grinned at him before he sighed and shook his head.

 

“Hiro,” he started. “I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear this from me. I like you. Actually, slash that, I think I’m in love with you. And I know this is all new for you but I won’t ask for something that you can’t give, okay?” Tadashi gingerly touched his shoulder, squeezing it before he took another careful step forward. Hiro didn’t shy away and let Tadashi near him, looking at the man in the eyes.

 

“So, what _should_ I do?” Hiro asked quietly as if they were whispering a secret. Tadashi smiled and at that moment, that smile eased any doubts and questions in Hiro’s mind. Tadashi slowly touched his cheeks and cupped his face with both of his hands. Hiro ended up closing his eyes tight, relishing at how warm his hands were against his face. He almost forgot how cold the night was.

 

“I think,” Tadashi said slowly, his breaths hitting the young genius’s face. Hiro opened his eyes slowly and his breath caught in his throat when he saw how Tadashi looked, all soft and kind. “You should give me a try. Give this thing between us a try.”

 

Hiro shakily touched Tadashi’s hands and wrapped his fingers at the man’s wrist. He felt his heartbeat picking up and if anything, he felt his cheeks and neck reddening. He licked his lips again as he nervously nodded. “Okay,” he said slowly. “I’m scared though. But I’ll give us a try.”

 

“Okay,” Tadashi said, his voice sounding hopeful at the same time. “Okay, good. Just for the record, I’m scared too.”

 

Hiro looked at him and nodded again, this time a smile working on his lips.

 

* * *

 

Waking up the next day, he found himself smiling, his cheeks already flushing. Biting his bottom lip, he blinked and sighed. Staring at the ceiling, he wondered if this could be it. If he could really do this—he had never really let someone inside before and for the first time in his life, he was going to give this a try.

 

They were together.

 

He couldn’t believe it. He thought he had dreamt of it all but the soft humming inside of him told him otherwise. He felt light, as if someone had poured ten tons of sunrays inside of him. He remembered his words ringing through the night. They hadn’t kissed or anything as sort mostly because Hiro was still trying to get used to this. It was too fast in his books, so Tadashi just smiled at him when he agreed to try this.

 

Honey had found them afterwards before she took one look at them and smiled vibrantly. She gently reminded them that they were in public and Hiro immediately took a few steps back. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be seen near Tadashi like— _that_ , but the media was already a pain in the neck from the beginning and he wanted his private life to just stay like that— _private_.

 

He had gone home smiling and for the first time in his life, he felt the loneliness driving away, far away from his grasp. He sighed as he sat up on his bed. Though, that didn’t eliminate the thought that being with Tadashi was slightly scary. He had never been with someone before and this was Tadashi he was giving his heart away.

 

He knew that he wouldn’t ever feel what love could be if he didn’t try it out.

 

But what if at the end, his heart wasn’t meant to be given away after all?

 

He sighed softly at that and decided to push it away. It wouldn’t matter at the moment. He got out of the bed and headed on with his morning routine. After a shower and some fresh clothes, he grabbed his things and shoved them in his bag before heading to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed an apple juice, decided it was time he head back to the lab.

 

Opening the door, he hadn’t expected to see Tadashi there, eyes locked with his and for a moment, the world stopped whirling around. Hiro felt himself freezing before he blinked and broke eye contact with him. “Uhm, hey,” he said, clearing his throat when he felt himself growing nervous again.

 

Tadashi nodded, smiling as he took a step back, giving Hiro some space. Locking the door, Hiro turned back to look at Tadashi and raised his eyebrows, trying his best to hide the flutter inside of him. “So?” he questioned.

 

“Right,” Tadashi said to himself before looking at Hiro. “Baymax is going to be shipped off tomorrow. So, if you want to see him one last time…”

 

Hiro knew where he was going with it. “Can I?” he asked. Tadashi just grinned at him.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “Of course.”

 

Hiro felt his cheeks dusting pinkness on it before nodding and smiling back. “I’ll come by during the evening?”

 

“I’ll pick you up,” Tadashi said. “Your lab? And then maybe we can grab something to eat. I—I’m leaving to Japan the day after tomorrow.”

 

Hiro nodded, agreeing. “Okay,” he said as he started to walk to the elevator, Tadashi by his side. “To be honest, I actually did want to see Baymax one last time.”

 

“Great,” Tadashi said happily, pressing on the down button. Silence ensued between them as Hiro shuffled on his shoes. There was something else in this silence, something deep and Hiro found it weighing on them like a ton. He glanced at Tadashi from the corner of his eyes, wondering if the man had something he wanted to ask. But when he didn’t and just got on the elevator with Hiro, the young genius resigned to the silence.

 

Suddenly, things felt awkward between them. Hiro didn’t know why. Before this, he was comfortable with the silence but now—it felt awkward. There was nothing but leaking nervousness in the air and a bit of something else. “Well,” Hiro started. “This is awkward.”

 

Tadashi chuckled, breaking the silence as he leaned against the elevator wall and looked at Hiro. “Really?” he asked.

 

“Like you don’t feel it,” Hiro said as he pointed to the ceiling. “It’s like so awkward, man.”

 

“Well, I don’t feel it,” Tadashi said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Maybe it’s you.”

 

“Oh, ha ha,” Hiro said sarcastically. “Like I’m the one who’s nervous.”

 

“So, you _are_ the reason for this awkwardness,” Tadashi mused loudly. Hiro’s face reddened as he shot the taller man a glare.

 

“ _No_ ,” Hiro denied. “I’m not!”

 

Tadashi shrugged playfully and when the doors of the elevator opened, he was grinning at Hiro and walked out. Hiro followed him, embarrassment painting his insides as he huffed out loud. “I’m telling you, I’m not the reason for that.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Tadashi said as he glanced at Hiro. “I understand.”

 

“Understand what?” Hiro challenged as he looked at the man and raised his eyebrows.

 

“That you’re nervous with your boyfriend, I get it, totally,” Tadashi said with amusement in his voice. Hiro froze on his spot, looking at Tadashi when the term ‘ _boyfriend_ ’ sunk in his mind. _Oh_. The real heaviness of this realisation took Hiro by surprise and he found himself taking a step back.

 

Tadashi stopped walking and turned around to look at Hiro. “Right,” Hiro found himself saying before licking his lips and looking at anywhere but Tadashi. The man furrowed his eyebrows as he took a few steps forward to Hiro. “Right, _boyfriend_.”

 

“What’s wrong?” Tadashi asked, sounding slightly confused and all traces of humour gone. Hiro looked at the man before he gave out a weak smile. “Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No,” Hiro said. “Just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

 

“What?” Tadashi asked. “What took you by surprise?”

 

“That term,” Hiro said. “You know— _boyfriend_.” Hiro found himself reddening again at the word, something squishy and warm working his way in his heart. He liked this feeling, he decided. Tadashi raised his eyebrows, frowning slightly.

 

“Did I get it wrong?” he asked. “I thought you wanted to be—”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said quickly, cutting any words coming out from his mouth. “I do.”

 

“Then?”

 

“I’m just—I just realised we really are together, like that,” Hiro said with a sheepish smile. Tadashi’s face softened and he smiled.

 

“Ah,” he said understandingly. Hiro nodded awkwardly before he cleared his throat once more.

 

“I’m going to get going,” Hiro said before he looked at Tadashi. He smiled at the man before he walked away.

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi called out after he had taken two steps forward. Hiro turned around to look at the man who had a grin on his face, stretching big and wide.

 

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Tadashi said. “The reason why I fell for you from the very start was because you’re—you.”

 

Hiro felt his heart speed up as he grinned, couldn’t help but to let the bubbling warmth inside of him out. “Tadashi?” he said as the man nodded, asking him to continue. “I know.” Tadashi chuckled at that as Hiro rolled his eyes playfully and waved at him. With that, he started to walk to the entrance of the building, ready to start his new adventure.

 

* * *

 

He knew his friends weren’t going to sit around idly and wait for him to speak. They were going to ambush him and they were going to drag him down for interrogation even if he had to kick and scream. Hiro felt the back of his neck prickle from the sensation of two pairs of eyes digging through his skin. Their gazes were sharp and the silence on them weren’t really helping much either.

 

Finally, Hiro slammed the screwdriver on the table and sighed. Turning around, he crossed his hands against his chest and looked at his two friends. Wasabi was pretending looking at his phone while occasionally lifting his eyes up to see Hiro meanwhile Gogo wasn’t even trying to hide her blunt staring.

 

“Do I _have_ to ask?” Hiro asked as Gogo sighed and Wasabi cleared his throat.

 

“Spill it,” Gogo said as she rolled up the blueprint and placed it on the table. Hiro raised his eyebrows at them, hoping he could worm his way out of this by feigning innocence. “Oh, don’t even try to act like you don’t know what we’re talking about, Hiro.”

 

Nope, didn’t work.

 

Sighing, Hiro shrugged. “What do you guys mean?”

 

“Hiro, man,” Wasabi started. “If anyone saw you today, they’d be blind and dead by now.”

 

“ _Excuse_ me?” Hiro asked, completely flabbergasted at the horrible phrase.

 

“That was horrible, Wasabi,” Gogo commented dryly.

 

“What?” Wasabi asked, sounding slightly put off. “It’s perfect. If anyone saw Hiro today, they’d go blind from the sheer brightness he’s emitting and then proceed to die before help arrives because his brightness is about ten thousand terawatts.”

 

“Well, I don’t know if I’m supposed to take it as an insult or as a backhand compliment,” Hiro said almost as dryly as Gogo’s stare at Wasabi.

 

“Hiro,” Gogo started. “Seriously, what’s going on? You’re really—glowing.”

 

Hiro didn’t even pretend he wasn’t blushing at that and decided to just resign to his fate that his friends were going to find out either way and he might as well tell them now than later. Hiro licked his lips before nodding. “Well, uh, things happened.”

 

“What kind of things?” Wasabi asked, sounding slightly curious.

 

Hiro phrased some words in his head, trying to make it sound neat and clean before he opened his mouth. “Tadashi-kinda things?”

 

Gogo stared at Hiro for a minute before her eyes narrowed and a devious smile playing on her lips. “Yesterday, you said something about a charity event. Something happened there with him, didn’t it?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I—I found out that I like him.”

 

Wasabi nodded and Gogo hummed. Silence filled in between them before Wasabi raised his eyebrows. “So? Didn’t he know you liked him?”

 

Hiro realised that maybe he should start being specific. “No, I mean,” Hiro said. “I like him—the way he likes me.”

 

“The way he likes you?” Gogo said slowly before Wasabi’s eyes widened and Gogo’s lip parted into a ‘O’ shape. “You— _really_?” she asked, sounding surprised.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said with a wary smile. “I like him—that way.”

 

Immediately, his two friends took a few steps forward and crowded his personal space. “So, did you tell him?” Wasabi asked, sounding more than interested now. Hiro nodded slowly before he heard a laugh coming from Gogo, sounding amused.

 

“And what did he say? Did he sweep you off your feet with a kiss?” she teased and Hiro couldn’t help but to imagine that scenario only to end up redder around his cheeks.

 

“Guys,” he said as he took a step back from them. “Personal space here, man.”

 

“Come on,” Gogo said. “We want to know. What happened? How did he react?”

 

“We got together,” Hiro said, silencing them. “We got together. We’re—together. Like that.”

 

“Woah,” Wasabi said after a while. “That’s—you’re finally going to give you and Tadashi a try?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said with a shrug as if he wasn’t nervous already. “I mean, why not, right?”

 

“Woah, indeed,” Gogo said with cheekiness radiating from her tone. But there was something else too. She was proud of him and that took Hiro by surprise. “Congratulations, Hiro.”

 

“Thanks?” Hiro said.

 

“We’re glad,” Wasabi said. “You’re trying, man. That’s good. Wait ‘till Fred hears about this.”

 

“Careful. Don’t let this slip out,” Hiro said and Gogo rolled her eyes.

 

“We’re not that desperate for money, Hiro,” she said as Hiro chuckled at her.

 

“So, the Honey Lemon thing isn’t real?” Wasabi asked as he looked up from his smartphone. Hiro grinned and nodded.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “They’re just friends.”

 

“See? I told you Tadashi wasn’t like that,” Gogo said and Hiro just sighed at her.

 

“Are you guys done now? I’ll like to get back to my work,” Hiro said as he pointed to his desk. “Want to help me instead?”

 

“Yeah,” Gogo said before she smiled.

 

With that, they went back to inventing.

 

* * *

 

They decided to get lunch after working for more than three hours, well mostly, Gogo decided it was time for lunch and she proceeded to drag Hiro and Wasabi out the doors by their shirt collars when none wanted to move. They were currently walking down the sidewalks, Hiro wearing his sunglasses as he rubbed his neck.

 

“Sometimes,” Wasabi started. “I think you’re made out of pure iron for strength.”

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Gogo said as she eyed Hiro and dared him to say something.

 

“No comment,” Hiro said after a while. Gogo nodded as they walked in silence when someone called up to Hiro.

 

“Hiro!”

 

Hiro turned around, lifting his sunglasses when he saw Honey Lemon, grinning at him. She stood in front of him before she said, “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” Hiro said back to her, still feeling slightly guilty for having made incorrect conclusions about her. “Uhm, guys, this is Honey. Honey Lemon. Honey, my friends; Gogo and Wasabi.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” she said as she shook their hands. Gogo blinked at her before smiling meanwhile Wasabi gave her a grin.

 

“Nice to meet you too,” Gogo said. “We’re going to get something to eat, want to join us?”

 

Honey looked at Hiro briefly before she nodded. “Sure.”

 

* * *

 

Hiro didn’t mind having lunch with Honey. She was basically fun to be around, maybe slightly weird, if he had to be really honest but she was nice overall. “So, Hiro and Tadashi, huh?” she said after a while, her grin almost blinding their eyes from the sheer whiteness.

 

Hiro quietly sipped onto his coffee, nodding a bit.

 

“Didn’t expect that?” Gogo asked and Hiro just smiled.

 

“Oh, well, would it be weird if I said I did expect that?” she said slowly. Hiro raised his eyebrows at her, wondering what she meant by that.

 

“Huh,” Hiro said. “He told you about me?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Honey said as she shrugged. “We’ve been best friends since we were young. We tell everything to each other. He told me about you, Hiro, long before he made a move on you.” Hiro felt his cheeks reddening before he averted his gaze and drank his coffee silently.

 

“Hiro, did you hear that?” Wasabi teased. Hiro just rolled his eyes at them.

 

“Really?” he asked both of his friends. “You seriously want to go with that?”

 

“Hiro,” Honey started. “I may not know much about you but from what Tadashi had told me about you, he really likes you. Loves you, even.”

 

Hiro nodded, feeling slightly twitchy in his seat. “I know,” he said, the nervousness fluttering about in his stomach. “I know.”

 

“I’m glad you like him that way too,” she said with a smile. Hiro couldn’t help but to smile back at her.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said after a while. “I made bad presumptions about you and I didn’t even know you.”

 

She just waved her hand. “It happens when someone’s in love.”

 

Hiro didn’t really want to say that it was the truth since his feelings weren’t that deep. He liked Tadashi the way Tadashi liked him but he didn’t—not yet. He didn’t love him yet. It was there, maybe inside somewhere swimming around but it would take slightly longer for Hiro to finally admit that he loved Tadashi.

 

From the way Honey’s eyes were glistening in understanding, he guessed she knew it as well. Hiro just gave her a warm smile and sipped onto his coffee again, his friends decided to change the subject and they got to know Honey a bit more.

 

* * *

 

Hiro had decided to wait for Tadashi at the entrance of the university instead. The meeting with Honey had gone well. It was awkward at first but soon, he got to know her a bit more and he learned that she wasn’t all that cheerful. She was stressed out most of the time, her job hanging on her shoulders like two dumbbells and he felt for her.

 

He sighed as he exited his lab and fixed his bag properly. He locked his lab, smiling at some of the students who passed him and gave him a smile. Just as he was about to walk to the elevator bringing him to the ground floor, his eyes caught onto someone.

 

He recognised her anywhere. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw Abigail talking to one of the professors with a smile wide on her face. He blinked, remembering that the last time he had met her, she was in London. He wondered what he was doing here. Maybe he should just ignore her and walk to the elevator.

 

He did just that.

 

But before he could take another step forward, she called up to him. He stopped walking immediately and looked at her. She smiled widely at him. “Hiro,” she said as she stood in front of him.

 

“Abigail,” he said with a smile of his own even though it didn’t reach his eyes. Hiro told himself to not let his judgemental mind get the best of him. He didn’t know her well, so he didn’t harbour any ill feelings toward her. Besides, he had established that the reason he was jealous of her was because he liked Tadashi that way.

 

Now, there wasn’t any reason to feel defensive.

 

His mind didn’t buy that even a second.

 

“I knew I could find you here,” she said. Hiro raised his eyebrows at her.

 

“You were looking for me?” he asked and she just seemed to laugh a bit.

 

“Not really,” she said. “I came down to talk to Tadashi. To help him prepare for the Japan trip. He’s oh so busy nowadays that I had a hard time pinning him down. I just stumbled upon you. It was always a pleasure to see you in person.”

 

Hiro felt something weird making way in his chest at that. He didn’t know what she meant by that. He just shrugged with the same smile plastered on his lips. “It’s nice to see you again. Do you need to see Tadashi now?”

 

“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “I called him this morning and he said he had plans tonight. Do you think he could postpone whatever it is? Maybe you can talk to him? This is really important and he has to finish this before the trip.”

 

“He has another day, doesn’t he?” Hiro asked, feeling something inside of him twisting. “He could do it tomorrow, you know.”

 

Abigail nodded as she bit her bottom lip. “I know but tomorrow he might need to take care of other things and really, as intrusive as this sounds, this projects means a lot to so many parties including him. I just want things to be perfect since I invested some in this invention too. You know the drill, right, Hiro?”

 

Hiro nodded, understanding where she came from. But did she have to do it now? He had wanted to see Baymax. He felt something akin to disappointment working in himself before he sighed. “He’s meeting me tonight.” Abigail seemed to be taken aback at the declaration.

 

“Oh,” she said after a while before she sighed. “I’m so sorry, Hiro. I didn’t mean to interrupt your evening with him.”

 

“It’s alright, fine,” Hiro said with a smile. “He should be waiting for me by now.”

 

“I’m sorry,” she said with an apologetic smile. “It’s just he’s important now, Hiro. He’s everybody’s hope now and he can’t waste his time on trivial things anymore.”

 

That sounded harsh to Hiro’s ears. It wasn’t the first time he had gotten such treatment before. This wasn’t the first time he felt like he wasn’t wanted. He nodded at her tightly, wondering for a moment if it really was a trivial thing for Tadashi to spend time with him anymore.

 

They walked out of the university together. Just in time, Tadashi’s car pulled up and he got out, ready to head inside when his eyes caught onto Hiro’s. He smiled widely at him before his eyes landed on Abigail and the smile dimmed into a confused loop.

 

“Hey,” he said as he walked up to them. Hiro smiled at him before pointing to Abigail. “Abigail. You weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow.”

 

“Something came up and you needed to fill these documents,” she said as she waved a thumb drive in her hands. “I came down to finish my projects here and search for you.”

 

Tadashi just smiled at her apologetically. “I can’t, not now, Abigail,” he said. “I have something to do tonight.”

 

“Yes, with Hiro,” she said. Tadashi’s eyes flickered back to Hiro. Hiro cleared his throat as he nodded, avoiding eye contact from the man. “He’s given his consent.”

 

“He’s _what_?” Tadashi asked, sounding slightly hurt.

 

“It’s more important, Tadashi,” Hiro said as he shrugged. “We can hang out tomorrow, okay?”

 

Abigail nodded in agreement before she ushered the thumb drive to Tadashi’s hands. Tadashi just stared at the young scientist. Hiro just sighed before he looked at the both of them and smiled. “I’ll see you guys.”

 

With that, he walked away. It took a few seconds before Tadashi was chasing after him, catching him by the arm and turning him around. “What was that about?” he asked, sounding confused. “I thought you wanted to see Baymax.”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said. “But Abigail said you had some important stuff to do, Tadashi. It’s—more important than spending time with me, okay?”

 

“What?” Tadashi asked sounding slightly annoyed. “But you wanted to—”

 

Hiro took his arm away from Tadashi’s grip and pointed at Abigail with his eyes. “Go,” he said with a smile and patted Tadashi’s shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

 _Trivial_. Their time together was bloody _trivial_ to her, Hiro thought bitterly as he walked away, deciding that if that was the truth—then wouldn’t it mean that whatever between them was also _trivial_?

 

* * *

 

When he reached his apartment, he was less than pleased with himself. He groaned loudly as he sat on the couch, taking his bag and slamming it next to him. What Abigail had said—that stunningly heavy speech she laid on him felt like she was disapproving what they had. Hah, and it hadn’t even been less than twenty four hours since they started this.

 

Hiro should really stop feeling surprised. Life always enjoyed messing everything good he ever had. Truth to be told, Hiro was still slightly insecure inside. He wasn’t sure if he was what Tadashi needed at the moment. He was breaking through something big here and compared to him, Hiro was less.

 

He felt like he wanted to laugh at his self-pity. This restlessness in his mind was slowly driving himself mad. He just shook his head before deciding he would get a cold shower. But the shower didn’t help. It didn’t help to cool this hurt and insecurity inside of him. It was still bubbling hot.

 

By the time it was almost eight, the doorbell to his apartment rang repeatedly. Hiro rolled his eyes as he made to the front door and opened it. Tadashi was on the other side, looking at him displeased. Hiro just let him in, opening the door wide and Tadashi’s didn’t hesitate to come in.

 

“What are you doing here?” Hiro asked as he closed the door. “Don’t you have some things to do?”

 

“What the hell was that?” Tadashi asked, turning around to face Hiro. The young genius raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms against his chest.

 

“Excuse me?” Hiro asked. “I let you in my house, that’s what.”

 

“No, I mean,” Tadashi said as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Back there, with Abigail. Hiro, why did you walk away? We had _plans_.”

 

“And yeah, the plans had to change because Abigail said it was important,” Hiro said. “What’s wrong with that?”

 

Tadashi sighed as he looked at Hiro. “Seriously?” he asked. “Hiro,” he started gently. “You said I had other more important things to do besides spending time with you. You know that you’re important to me too, Hiro. You’re—the more I got to know you, the more you’re important than anything else. I was looking forward to spending my time with you.”

 

“And I love spending time with you too!” Hiro exclaimed frustrated. “But Tadashi, you’re going to go down in history for doing something so cool, so life-changing. You—you don’t have time for something so _trivial_.” The bitterness in his voice ended up showing as Tadashi looked at Hiro and took a step forward.

 

“Trivial?” he asked. “There’s nothing trivial about us, Hiro.”

 

“We,” Hiro started. “I can wait, you know. You waited, I can wait too. This is more important, not us spending time when you can do other things that required more attention.”

 

“Hiro, you’re not getting it,” Tadashi said. “Did Abigail say that? Did she say this is trivial? She’s always been work first, people second. You don’t have to believe her. _Believe me_.”

 

“But she has some points,” Hiro said. “I really like you, Tadashi. But after this event, do you think you have time for me? You won’t. You will be too busy to even look at me!”

 

“Is that what you think?” Tadashi asked, a frown carving his face. “Honestly, you can’t believe that’s what I’ll do!”

 

“You will,” Hiro said. “I’m not putting words in your mouth, trust me. But it will happen because you’ll be someone. Someone that the world—globally—in every corner and every generation is going to know and you will—there’s no time for me.”

 

Silence filled in between before Tadashi laughed dryly. “Hiro,” he started. “Tell me you can’t do this because you’re not ready. Tell me you can’t do this because you’re not sure of what you’re feeling. Tell me you’re not ready because you can’t let anyone in and you’re too scared. But _don’t_ tell me that you can’t do this because of your own presumptions about me and what I’ll do when I cross the line. This isn’t how relationships supposed to go.”

 

Hiro remained silent, the emotions were mixing around inside of him. “I think,” Tadashi continued. “This is too much for you.”

 

Hiro flinched at the words. “You know that’s not true.”

 

“It is,” Tadashi insisted. “You’re not ready for me, and you’re not ready for us. You’re—what are you so scared of? I’ll wait, didn’t I say so? I will wait for you, you know. I will always be there for you. I’m not asking you to marry me, Hiro. I’m just asking you to take things slowly. But this is too much. You’re running away when you can’t handle it.”

 

“I don’t!” Hiro exclaimed, his eyes feeling wet. “I have never let anyone in before, Tadashi. You know this. I’m—I have a million and one insecurities inside but they are not without basis. I’m—But I like you. I really do.”

 

“I know,” Tadashi said with a soft but sad smile and Hiro didn’t like that look at all. “Maybe—you need time to really think this over.”

 

“What?” Hiro said. “God, Tadashi, you’re making a big deal about this. I’ll just see you tomorrow, won’t I?”

 

“It _is_ a big deal,” Tadashi said. “If you think right now that you’re not as important to me as my work, what makes you think that you wouldn’t leave me when someone says to you that I’m better off with someone else? Would you leave me then too because you think that person is better for me?”

 

“So, you’re going to leave me?” Hiro asked, sounding slightly broken. His heart constricted at the thought, the loneliness inside. “That’s stupid, Tadashi. You’re important to me.”

 

“I know,” Tadashi said. “And I said I’ll wait, didn’t I? Just—think about this, us, over first.”

 

“I’m not going to because I know what I want!”

 

“Really?” he asked even though his eyes were challenging Hiro to say otherwise. Hiro wanted to. He wanted to say _yes, he knew what he wanted_. But—somehow, everything that Tadashi had said stopped him. “Just think about it, okay?”

 

Hiro felt numb inside as Tadashi sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I—I’ll see you in Japan,” he said as he looked at Hiro. “I’ll see you _after_ the Japan trip. Then, you can tell me whether you can do this or not. I—I love you, okay?”

 

Hiro felt his heart stop at the declaration. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it back because honestly—he didn’t know yet. Tadashi nodded at the silence before he patted Hiro on the shoulder and walked out of his apartment.

 

The silence accompanying afterwards was deafening and Hiro found himself taking a sharp breath. He closed his eyes, willing back the tears as he walked to his couch and sat down tiredly. He second doubted again and Tadashi was right.

 

Maybe he needed to rethink about this after all.

 

Tadashi was like a bright sunshine and he turned everything around in his world. He didn’t want to lose him but he couldn’t make the man stay if he couldn’t give what he wanted. That would be selfish of him and that—that wasn’t what Hiro wanted. He looked at the ceiling and felt his insides becoming grim.

 

Suddenly, he felt the dark edges of his heart perching up to loneliness again.

 

Hah, reality was so ironic.  

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, this was--angsty, right? Now, now, cool down, this is not how we end things. There might be one last chapter after this and yes, this story is going to end very soon too~ /sighs/ I hope this chapter lived up to you guys expectations. I hope it also made sense. Well, besides that, I'm sorry for the late update as always. Thank you guys for the kudos, subs, bookmarks and comments! Do let me know what you guys thought of this chapter as well and until the next chappie~ -Krystal


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine!
> 
> A/N: So, this is it! The last chapter! And, well, I'll ramble more at the end, okay? Enjoy!

 

 

 

He had never felt so different before. He never felt so empty before. He felt someone had grazed his insides with a blunt knife, leaving everything jagged and bloody. He felt the heaviness drowning him from within as he slowly sat up on his bed. Running a hand down his face, he looked to his right to the clock. It blinked _3:40 AM_ in annoying neon green, making Hiro to groan.

 

He felt his head throbbing and he wanted nothing more but to sleep this pain off. He remembered clearly what Tadashi had said a few hours ago. How the words had stabbed him from within. It made Hiro shudder as he recalled how hurt Tadashi looked. He made him look like that and it made him wonder his self-worth again.

 

It hadn’t even been twenty four hours since they started their relationship and just like that, because of something Hiro thought was better than him—it ended up with an abrupt stop.

 

_‘I—I love you, okay?’_

 

 _Love_ , Hiro muttered darkly in his mind. Tadashi loved him. He touched his chest absent-mindedly, wondering if he could find it somewhere in his heart to love him back. Tadashi was right. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he was ruining something perfect with his selfishness. He needed to be sure that he could give back what Tadashi wanted.

 

But could he?

 

He liked him, sure, but could he love him?

 

The young genius shuddered at the thought. He sighed as he felt his head throbbing loudly. He got out of his bed and walked outside of his room, heading to the kitchen. He needed coffee—late night caffeine be damned.

 

* * *

 

 

He was exhausted. He felt emotionally drained and he felt physically tired. He wanted nothing more but to sleep all day but his mind wouldn’t shut down. It wouldn’t give him the satisfaction to just sleep through this dull ache in his chest. He looked at his smartphone’s clock, realising it was seven in the morning. He hadn’t slept at all since he woke up.

 

He sighed as he got up from the couch and headed to the bedroom. After having a cold shower and changing into cleaner clothes, he grabbed his smartphone and bag before walking to the front door. Opening it, he found Honey already waiting for him outside.

 

Immediately, his mood shifted darker.

 

He wasn’t in any mood to deal with some shove talk.

 

He had seen these types of scenes in the movies before. The best friend would come up to the person and give him the ‘hurt her and you’ll die’ talk and Hiro—well, yeah, he didn’t want to hear it. “Save it,” he told her before she could open her mouth. “I know why you’re here. Consider this heard and leave.”

 

Honey’s eyebrows shot up as he walked out of his apartment and slammed the door shut before turning away from her. He adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag before he walked to the elevator. He pushed on the down button and waited for the metallic doors to slid open.

 

“Huh,” Honey said as she slowly stood next to him. “I was wrong about you.”

 

Hiro simply sighed as he walked inside of the elevator, Honey following him. He pressed on the ground floor, waiting for his ride to be over. He crossed his arms against his chest and closed his eyes for a while. His head was still throbbing in his head and it was irritating him. She clicked her tongue and Hiro winced at the volume.

 

“You sure this is it?” she asked after a while.

 

“What is it?” Hiro asked finally, opening his eyes and looking at her. “I have a severe headache, so please, just spit it out.”

 

“You two are in a rough patch,” she said before she smirked. “And you both are acting like idiots.”

 

“Excuse me?” Hiro said. “I know, I know, I’m not his ideal lover or whatever it is you want to call this. _But_ I’m not an idiot.”

 

“No,” Honey said. “You’re a self-doubting idiot. Tadashi’s the naïve self-doubting idiot. Both of you are self-doubting idiots.”

 

Hiro dropped his hands to his side and shook his head slightly. “You don’t understand,” he said. “You weren’t there when—when he said those things. I—I—”

 

Honey sighed before she faced Hiro. “Hiro,” she started. “Don’t—don’t doubt yourself, alright? I get it, you get insecure seeing how you’re—just listen to me. You both are good for each other. And if you and he don’t realise that, it’s—I can’t stand by and watch you two self-destruct.”

 

“We’re not,” Hiro said. “I’m doing him a favour.”

 

“So, you’ve decided, then?” she asked, her voice sounding slightly clipped. “You decided to leave him?”

 

“He left me first,” Hiro said bitterly as the elevator doors opened and the young genius strode out. Honey groaned under her breath before she grabbed onto Hiro’s right shoulder and turned him around.

 

“If you give up now,” she said. “If you give up now, then you really don’t care about him or yourself. And maybe you’ll think this is the right thing to do now, but later, you’ll see how wrong you were and at then, there’s no point crying over spilt milk.”

 

Honey then looked at him one last time before she walked away from him. Hiro felt the tears stinging his eyes again as he sighed and took in a deep shaky breath. He wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t know what to do. He could go running back to Tadashi, tell him that this was what he wanted, he wanted to be with him and he wanted nothing more but him—but what if he couldn’t return his feelings?

 

Hiro couldn’t face another disappointment. Yesterday, Tadashi had made things clear. If Hiro couldn’t do it, he shouldn’t come back. Maybe not with exact words but the implication was clear. Hiro couldn’t lose the best thing that ever happened in his life even though his heart ached.

 

Sighing, he rubbed his face before he walked away, heading outside of the building.

 

* * *

 

He wore his sunglasses over his eyes as he walked down the sidewalk. He didn’t head to his lab and he knew he shouldn’t neglect his work but he wanted nothing more but to relax and get this over and done with. He had turned off his smartphone, just letting the wind to caress his face every time he took another step forward. He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked at the café.

 

It wasn’t his aunt’s café but this would do for now. So, he went inside and opened the door. Walking inside, he headed to the counter to buy his coffee, _again_. Once he bought the drink, he headed to the corner of the shop and sat down, just taking in a deep breath before sipping onto his coffee.

 

He just wanted to mull over his thoughts. He just wanted to find a solution and get this over with. He wanted nothing more than to just forget this slightly bigger than usual hole in his heart. He thought carefully about Tadashi and the way he made him feel. The way that he made Hiro happy from inside, the way he made the pieces in his life fit perfectly like they were supposed to be.

 

The way that he could destroy any traces of loneliness from within inside the young genius by just being there. It was—it was unique, an experience that Hiro was sure he wouldn’t be able to feel again. He looked at his right fingers, moving them for a while wondering what it would feel like if he gave up the one thing in his life that made sense.

 

It would be the end of the line.

 

He felt the heaviness shouldering him heavily. If he asked for help, nobody would answer him. He wanted someone who would answer him when he asked questions about self-doubt. He wanted someone who would just be there for him and Tadashi, he was everything and so much more. But what if he messed it up? What if Hiro messed it up?

 

He didn’t know what he would do then. He took in a long sip of the bitter coffee before settling deeper into his chair. Just then, someone appeared next to him, touching on the shoulder. He jerked upright and looked at the person before his eyes widened behind the sunglasses.

 

What did _she_ want?

 

“Can I sit here?” she asked as she didn’t wait for an answer and sat down in front of him. “Hey.”

 

Hiro bit his inner cheek from yelling at her. He took in a deep breath before he nodded at her as a response. She just sighed before smiling at him. “I—I didn’t know.”

 

“What?” Hiro asked as he looked at Abigail.

 

“That you and he were—you know, together like that.” She crossed her hands clasped them together as she looked at him. “If I knew, well, I would have—I’m just sorry.”

 

Hiro slammed his cup of coffee on the table before he rubbed his face and took down his sunglasses. “Why are you here?” he asked. “If you heard about it, go and nag him. I’m too exhausted to hear anything else today, alright?”

 

Abigail bit her bottom lip. “I just, I didn’t mean it like that yesterday.”

 

“Oh, how did you mean it then?” Hiro snapped at her. “You said it was trivial, Abigail.”

 

“I know!” Abigail said as she rubbed her face. “I thought about the unnecessary things like—like—I don’t know, Hiro, but I certainly didn’t mean your relationship with him.”

 

“Well, thanks,” Hiro said bitterly. “There is no relationship now, so he can go right ahead and be all busy and bloody annoyingly famous.”

 

“Hiro,” Abigail started. “I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I didn’t—he was in a bad mood, you know? He’s just, he couldn’t concentrate on anything and he’s just, there’s no spark whenever he speaks and it’s not good if he goes to Japan like this!”

 

Hiro bit his bottom lip, knowing what this woman in front of him was trying to say. “So, I should just go up to him and fix things? Just so that he could concentrate on his work?”

 

“Yes,” Abigail said. Hiro scoffed at her.

 

“Are you even listening to yourself, Abigail,” Hiro asked as he leaned against the table and looked at her in the eyes. “I know you’re trying to look out for his best interest but if I’m going to talk to him and solve this—whatever this is, it’s going to be on my account and not because you said so.”

 

Abigail frowned at him and he saw the spark of irritation in her eyes. He felt a dark triumph washing into him at the realisation as he leaned back into his seat and rubbed his eyes. He wore his sunglasses against his eyes again before looking out the window, ignoring her and taking a sip of his coffee.

 

“You’re stubborn,” Abigail said after a while, something like amusement in her voice.

 

“ _Thanks_ ,” Hiro said uninterested as he continued to look out of the window.

 

“I can see why he likes you,” she continued. “But Hiro, I’m not trying to be a mean witch and ruin this. Just—remember. He—he can’t wait for you forever.”

 

Hiro snapped his eyes and looked at her, his eyebrows rising upwards from behind his shades. “Excuse me?” he said, now offended. Of course he knew that Tadashi couldn’t wait for him forever. But he didn’t need _Abigail_ to tell him that.

 

“You heard me,” she said before she leaned into her seat and crossed her arms against her chest. “He has a long list of people just waiting for him to give them a chance. He could choose any one of them and get over you if you don’t act fast. I’m not threatening you or anything like that, it’s just a reminder about the differences you and him have. You’re famous, I agree, but he’s going to revolutionise a new era. He’ll be out of everyone’s league by then.”

 

Hiro’s jaw clicked tight before he smirked. “And you’ll be one of the rare ones in his league, then?”

 

Abigail’s eyes widened. “That is not what I—”

 

“No?” Hiro said as he sighed and stood up. “Look, Abigail. I don’t think we should talk anymore. I’m too tired and really irritable and you’re making the situation muddier. So, just, leave. I don’t even know how you found me but just stop following me.”

 

“I am not following you,” Abigail said, this time her voice was clipped and dark as she stood up as well. “I said all I can. What you decide—I can’t say anything more.” With that, she turned around and walked away, her high heels clicked as she walked. Hiro just sipped his coffee before he rolled his eyes and walked out of the café a few minutes later.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t know whether I should pity you or—laugh at you,” Gogo said dryly as she sat in front of Hiro. The young genius scowled at her, dragging his sunglasses down his face, eyeing her evilly.

 

“Just let me hear one ‘ha’ and we’ll see if you’re still alive after you finished,” Hiro threatened her darkly before he glared at Wasabi, who looked at him and shifted closer to Gogo. The young genius had ended up calling his friends. He knew that he felt horrible at the moment and he knew that this feeling was about to get worse if he didn’t have anyone to talk to. His friends, even though they were a pain in the neck, knew how to make him feel slightly better.

 

So, they met up at a nearby bistro where Gogo worked. “I didn’t say anything,” Wasabi said, his face palling. “Seriously.”

 

Hiro sighed as he leaned into his seat. “And Abigail comes into the picture. I just, don’t know anymore, guys. Maybe I’m not cut out liking someone. Maybe I should just grow old and die with twenty seven cats around me all named Shorty or—Kolly or Molly or Holly or, oh! Golly and—”

 

“Yes, yes, twenty seven cats and you all wrinkled up dead at the corner with too much cat fur on you,” Gogo said. “Interesting life, huh, Hiro?”

 

“Shut the hell up, Gogo,” Hiro said as he slammed his head on the table. “I—I’m serious here, alright?”

 

“And I’m serious here too, you brat,” Gogo said as he kicked Hiro’s left shin hard. Hiro yelped as he pulled his leg from under the table and rubbed his shin. Glaring at Gogo, he demanded an explanation non-verbally. “You think relationships are easy? It’s not, Hiro. So, he asked you if you loved him, bo-ho, too bad if you can’t answer it. What’s the answer, oh! I _know_ , let’s give up and be miserable all your life— _ding! ding! ding!_ There’s a golden buzzer—Why you brat, I _will_ —”

 

Before Gogo could launch herself up and strangle Hiro’s neck, Wasabi had dragged her by the shoulders and patted her, calming her down. “What Gogo was trying to say is,” Wasabi said as he looked at Hiro, who turned looked at Gogo and raised his eyebrows. “We think this isn’t the end. You can’t give up, Hiro. Hell, you like him, right?”

 

Hiro slowly eyed Gogo again before clearing his throat. “Yeah,” he said. “I do like him. I just don’t know if I love him. He loves me, I just—what if I can’t return his feelings?”

 

“Then you can’t, simple as that,” Gogo said, pushing Wasabi’s hands off her shoulders as she took a deep breath. “Hiro, your feelings aren’t a bunch of numbers where you can calculate and get the right answer. You can’t miscalculate either. You can’t force your feelings to fit together like how you force the numbers to evaluate. It’s— _different_. You need to understand that, if he loves you and asks you to rethink about your decision, it’s not because he thinks you’re going to screw up.”

 

“Then, _what_ is it?” Hiro asked as he felt the thick lump in his throat growing. He felt his eyes watering again as well. “I just _can’t_ —it seems that’s what he’s trying to say, you know? That he knows I’m going to ruin it if I don’t—”

 

“He’s not,” Wasabi said softly. “Hiro, he just wants to make sure you understand what you’re getting into. He wants you to be sure that he is what you want.”

 

“In other words,” Gogo said, her voice softening as well. “In other words, he’s not sure if he’s good enough for you.”

 

“That’s—that’s _ridiculous_!” Hiro said. “He’s perfect. He’s confident, he makes me feel all you know, light and fluffy. There’s nothing he could do to make me convinced that he’s not good enough for me. He’s maybe a little too good for me.”

 

“See?” Wasabi said. “And here you are, thinking you’re not good enough for him when he probably thinks about you the same way you’re thinking about him. Love isn’t any different from deep like, you know. If you can imagine forever with that person and feel all light and happy inside, like there’s not more loneliness—like this is it—then—”

 

“Then, that’s love,” Gogo said. “It doesn’t always have to be romantic. But romantic love isn’t any different either. You feel like he’s the one. He’s the one who has the right to be with you, to know your inner thoughts, to own everything you know and you own everything he knows, to just— _be_ with him through his dark days happily, that’s love.”

 

Hiro remained quiet as he listened to them. He felt his heart thumping loudly at that. He felt his mind clearing up slowly as he took in a shuddering breath. “So, you think I’m in love?”

 

“We think you already are,” Gogo said with a smile. “But that’s for you to decide. We just say what we observe.”

 

Hiro nodded numbly as he sighed, rubbing his eyes. He smiled at his friends before he bit his bottom lip.

 

* * *

 

He walked out of the elevator, heading to his door. He took in a few deep breaths as he stood in front of his door, already keying the numbers in. Before he could key in the second number, the door next to his opened and Tadashi walked out, looking all dressed up. The man didn’t see Hiro as he walked out and closed the door tight, his bags in his hands.

 

Hiro felt something wilting inside when he realised that Tadashi was leaving to Japan tonight. The man turned around and his eyes caught Hiro’s. The young genius blinked for a minute as the man froze where he stood. For a few seconds, they stared at each other before Tadashi gave him a weak smile.

 

“Japan?” Hiro asked, his voice tightening as Tadashi nodded.

 

“Yeah,” he said. Silence filled in between them before the older man nodded to himself and grabbed his luggage. “I gotta go.”

 

Hiro nodded solemnly. “Be safe,” Hiro said quietly and the man looked at him one last time. He saw those brown eyes, they were filled with slight discomfort and Hiro wanted nothing more but to make them go away. But he didn’t, so he watched Tadashi hesitated to take another step. Finally breaking the eye contact, he nodded again and walked away.

 

With that, Hiro walked into his apartment and closed the door tight. He felt his heart thumping loudly against his chest. He touched his chest and rubbed it, his eyes feeling watery again as he slowly slid to the ground. He felt slightly better that Tadashi didn’t look any better either.

 

Laughing bitterly, he closed his eyes and felt the loneliness hit him heavily. Was this what it felt like to have been in—in love? To feel this loneliness so deep when the person he loved left without even a goodbye? No, Tadashi didn’t leave. Hiro watched him walk away but this wasn’t goodbye.

 

He sighed as he rubbed his eyes. His mind flickered through the memories as he smiled gently at how different he felt whenever he was with Tadashi. Was he ready to give it all up just because he wasn’t confident about it?

 

 _A Hamada isn’t a quitter_ , his aunt used to tell him whenever he was down. _Just look at a different angle_.

 

He sighed as he thumped the back of his head against the door. He then took his bag from his shoulders and opened the zip before he took out his smartphone. Dialling his aunt’s number, he bit his bottom lip as he waited for Cass to pick up. After the first three rings, she picked up with a cheerful hello. He felt a bit guilty about trying to drown his angst on her but he needed her opinion on this.

 

“Hey,” Hiro said slowly, noting how his voice shook. Hiro felt his aunt moving around at the background.

 

“Hiro?” she called out, her voice slightly worried. “What’s wrong? Why do you sound like that?”

 

Hiro kept quiet for a while before he choked out the words. “I—I need your help.”

 

“Anything,” she said quickly. “Hiro, what is it?”

 

Hiro took in a huge breath before he said, “I—I—Tadashi loves me.”

 

Cass kept quiet on the other side for a moment. “Okay,” she said but Hiro could clearly see the confusion written on her face from his mind and he smiled. “What’s wrong with that?”

 

“I don’t know how I felt about him and we got into a fight yesterday night,” Hiro said. “And he walked away. He asked me to rethink about us and just—he’s leaving for Japan tonight and I just saw him but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else and I just watched him walk away and I really—I can’t let him go like that but I’m not sure—I—”

 

“Hiro,” Cass said, cutting his rambling half way. “Just, word per word, okay? Now, right, so, he loves you, he told you, and you couldn’t say it back and you two got into a fight and he walked away? That’s—that doesn’t sound like Tadashi.”

 

“No,” Hiro said. “No, I mean, we didn’t fight because he said he loves me. We got into a fight because well, we made plans to meet up yesterday afternoon and then for dinner, but then Abigail, you know who Abigail is, right?, so she came and told me that Tadashi is all this important guy and he doesn’t have time for trivial things and I, well, she said as if I’m not important to him and so, I’m like okay, fine, whatever and I let Tadashi finish his things first but he got upset because he thought I didn’t care about our time together and he—he—”

 

“Ah, I get what’s going on here,” Cass said slowly. “So, he asked you to rethink about you and him together and—let me guess—he will hear about it later?”

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said slowly as he bit his bottom lip.

 

“Okay,” Cass said after a minute. “So, I assume you did a lot of thinking. What is your answer now?”

 

“I love him,” Hiro blurted out before he closed his lips tight and his cheeks reddening. He hadn’t— _what_? How did those words ended up in his mouth? His heart started to thump louder in his chest and he felt his hands  becoming clammy. He felt right, he felt _right_ when he said those words. “I—I—love him? I— _love_ him.”

 

“Well, looks like someone just realised it,” Cass teased. “So, what are you waiting for, go and tell him.”

 

“Now?” Hiro asked, he still felt weird inside. “Now, Aunt Cass, I can’t—he said he’ll wait—”

 

“Don’t, do not listen to him when he says that,” Cass said quickly. “He’s feeling doubtful of himself. He’s thinking he’s not good for you if you made him wait. He’ll think you couldn’t possibly love him. Just go and tell him, don’t drag this on.”

 

Hiro nodded as he scrambled onto his feet. “I will. Aunt Cass, thanks.”

 

“Anything, love,” she said before she chuckled. “Oh, and when you get back, you are explaining to me why I’m only hearing about you having a boyfriend now, over the phone.”

 

“Ah, I didn’t tell you?” Hiro asked, feeling slightly better.

 

“Don’t play coy with me, Hiro,” she said with a laugh. “Now go.”

 

“Thank you, Aunt Cass.”

 

* * *

 

He ran, he didn’t know he could run this fast before. He always hated the outdoors and everything associated with it—including running. But here he was, running out of the building as he tried calling Tadashi. But when he couldn’t get through, he cursed himself and searched for a cab. Getting a cab, he told the cab driver to head to the San Fransokyo International Airport.

 

But when he was heading there, they ended up in traffic. Hiro wanted to scream at whoever it was at the front line of this very long traffic because he was wasting time. Somehow, the ride to the airport was excruciatingly slow. It took him two hours, in this bloody ride, before he made it to the airport. Tossing the money to the cab driver, he got out of the car and rushed into the airport.

 

He tried contacting Tadashi but he couldn’t get through again.

 

“Damnit, Tadashi,” Hiro whispered to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair. He finally headed to the reception desk.

 

“Hello, how can we assist you today, sir?” a woman behind the desk asked as she smiled at him.

 

“Yeah,” Hiro said slowly as he licked his lips. “I would like to know if the flight to Japan has left.”

 

“The time of departure?” she asked.

 

“Uhm, I’m not really sure,” he said a bit sheepishly. “What’s the flight time for today?”

 

“Well, we had two departures this morning and afternoon, we have another three flights in the evening. The next one to departure is in another ten minutes.”

 

Hiro felt his throat constricting. He sighed as he took out his phone and tried calling again. He still couldn’t get through. “Thanks,” Hiro said with a smile as he walked away from the reception desk. He knew that he would miss Tadashi anyway. With a defeated slump, he sat at one of the chairs.

 

His aunt’s words rang back in his head. He had to meet Tadashi and not after the trip. Eyeing the ticket counter, Hiro chewed his bottom lip as a plan formed in his mind.

 

Well, he _was_ a Hamada. And Hamadas weren’t quitters.

 

* * *

 

**Tokyo Hotel, Tokyo, Japan.**

**2:03 PM**

 

Knocking on the door, he waited as he crossed his arms against his chest, adjusting the sunglasses on his face. God, it was weird to speak Japanese again. When he heard no sound coming from behind the door, he knocked again before ringing the doorbell a few times. Finally he heard somebody cursing inside and the door opened wide, revealing Tadashi in his pants and shirt, yawning and his hair messed up.

 

His yawn got stuck in his throat as his eyes widened when he saw him. He just grinned before he grabbed his luggage and pushed Tadashi to get inside of the room. Lifting his sunglasses to the top of his head, he dropped his luggage on the floor and hummed.

 

“This _is_ a really great hotel, huh?”

 

“Uhm,” Tadashi said slowly as he closed the door, still watching him as he moved around the room. Finally, he turned around and met Tadashi in the eyes.

 

“So?” he asked with a grin. “ _Surprise_?”

 

Tadashi stared at him before he let out a shaky laugh, his back against the door and a smile fitting on his face. “What—what are you doing here, Hiro?”

 

Hiro shrugged as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I just wanted to see you.”

 

“Well, it _is_ a surprise, I tell you that,” Tadashi said. “But really— _why_ are you here?”

 

“I,” Hiro said as he finally looked at the man in the eyes. “You told me a day ago to rethink about us. To think about what I want. Well, I tried thinking about it, but the answer is as clear as day and I’m just—it took me some time to really settle into it.”

 

Tadashi looked at him carefully before he pushed himself from the door and walked up to Hiro. He raised his eyebrows in a manner before saying, “So, what are you trying to say?”

 

“I’m saying I made up my mind,” Hiro said as he looked at him. “And I’m going to stick with it until the very end.”

 

Hiro could see the end of Tadashi’s lips itching to break into a smile. Hiro took a step forward before he placed his hands on Tadashi’s shoulders. He swallowed his nervous lump down his throat as he took in a deep breath. “Tadashi,” Hiro started as the man nodded, finally smiling. “I love you.”

 

Hiro couldn’t help it but to laugh when Tadashi grinned widely. Before he knew it, Tadashi had wrapped his arms around him and dragged him into a hug. Hiro looped his arms around his chest and buried his face against the crook of Tadashi’s neck, smiling. “I love you,” Hiro whispered again. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t care about us. But I do, a lot. I’m just scared, Tadashi,” Hiro continued as he tightened his grip on the man.

 

“Hiro,” Tadashi said softly as his right hand travelled to the back of Hiro’s head and gently brushed the nape of his neck. He kissed the junction of his neck before saying, “I’m scared too. I thought—I thought I wasn’t good enough. I’m never—you’re different Hiro, and I—I’m just scared to lose you.”

 

Hiro slowly moved away from the hug, looking at the man in the eyes. “You’re not going to lose me and I—I’m not going to lose you. I want this. I was just, everyone kept on telling me how you’re going to change the world and I felt, I felt less to you, alright? I just—I can’t handle seeing you being so you and having a lot of people thrown at you and to make it worse, those people are probably better than me. So, I’m scared—that you’ll realise I’m—”

 

“No,” Tadashi said with a soft smile. His hand that was massaging the back of Hiro’s neck slowly travelled to his cheek and caressed them softly. “Nobody else is going to be better for me. Only you, alright?”

 

Hiro remained quiet as he watched the honesty running through those warm orbs before he nodded. He slowly placed his hands back on Tadashi’s neck before dragging the man closer to him. Their faces separated by mere inches as he felt Tadashi’s other hand travelling to his waist and settling there. “I love you,” Hiro said again as he whispered those words against Tadashi’s lips.

 

The grip around his waist tightened and before he knew it, Tadashi had cupped his cheek and brought his face closer until their lips met. Hiro’s hand travelled to Tadashi’s shoulders in reflex and gripped them tight as his eyes slid closed and kissed him back. The kiss was unique in its own way. It wasn’t deadly or prickly, it was soft, sweet and everything about them.

 

The way their lips mashed made Hiro felt weak in the knees. Breaking the kiss, he felt his cheeks reddening realising that this was his first kiss. “Well,” Hiro said as he licked his lips, tasting Tadashi on them. The older man chuckled before he sighed.

 

“I love you too,” he said finally and before Hiro could say anything else, he nudged Hiro’s chin and swooped down for another kiss.

 

* * *

 

 

“I,” Hiro started before he licked his lips in irritation at the amused man in front of him. Hiro had followed Tadashi to the ceremony. By the time Hiro had arrived, there was a huge crowd inside the auditorium. The crowd was filled with important people, the press and every single media writers there was. Hiro felt himself growing nervous by just peeking at the crowd. Tadashi simple snickered when Hiro complained about it.

 

Now, Hiro was trying to be all romantic and let Tadashi know that he loved him as a good luck charm.

 

But every time he thought he could do it, the words got stuck in his throat and his face would redden.

 

“I?” Tadashi said slowly, drawling out the words. He was wearing the microphone onto his shirt as he eyed Hiro playfully. Hiro just sighed loudly before rolling his eyes.

 

“I—I—I _can’t_ say it!” Hiro growled out in frustration. “I just said them a few hours ago! I can’t—why can’t I say them?”

 

“Look, Hiro,” Tadashi said with a chuckle as he took a step forward to Hiro. He placed both of his hands on Hiro’s shoulders and squeezed them, a gentle smile on his face. “Maybe you can only say them when we’re alone. I—I’m happy you get to say them. I don’t need to hear it all the time. I’ll love you the same anyway.”

 

Hiro felt his cheeks reddening before he frowned. “Well, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to say it all the time!” Tadashi laughed amused before he bent down and kissed Hiro on the lips for a few seconds. “Tadashi!” Hiro said in mock horror before pushing the man away a few inches and looked around him. “We’re in public!”

 

“Relax,” Tadashi said before he ruffled Hiro’s hair. “Nobody’s here. We’ll be fine.”

 

Hiro sighed before he finally gave the man a soft smile. “Whatever,” he said before he looked out to the entrance of the stage. “Good luck.”

 

Tadashi nodded, taking a deep breath. Just then, a Japanese speaker came up to Tadashi and ushered him to the stage. Tadashi replied in Japanese before looking at Hiro and smiling. Hiro smiled back as the man finally walked to the entrance of the stage and walked out to the crowd. Hiro could hear the cheering and clapping while Baymax made entrance in the middle of the stage as well.

 

Hiro sighed as he leaned against the wall and took in a deep breath.

 

“Huh, you’re here after all,” Honey said as she walked to him. She had come down to see Tadashi as well, a smile gracing on her lips. “Good call.”

 

Hiro rolled his eyes before he smiled at her. “I know, I—I think I’m good now.”

 

“You better,” she said with a chuckle. “I don’t understand anyone here.”

 

“Me too,” Hiro said after a while.

 

“But you know Japanese!”

 

“A little,” Hiro said. “My parents didn’t get to teach me a lot before they died.”

 

Honey quietened down before she leaned against the wall next to him. “You know Abigail didn’t mean it, right?”

 

Hiro stiffened at her name as he let out an irritated laugh. “Yeah, well, she made it sound like it.”

 

“She’s—she just wants everything to go well for Tadashi,” she said with a shrug.

 

“Well, why isn’t she here then?”

 

“She only plans these things,” Honey said. “Then, she moves on to the next person who’s about to change the world and latch on them until they get it right. She’s a motivator, more or less. A Callaghan, what did you expect? But she had good intentions—she just conveyed them wrongly.”

 

Hiro just shrugged, not really bothering about her anymore. Sighing, he decided to just forgive and forget Abigail. “But he did it, didn’t he?”

 

“Oh he did,” she said before she looked at Hiro and winked. “And maybe do you too later?”

 

Hiro raised his eyebrows at her words before the implication settled in and he reddened. He spluttered out a response as she chuckled.

 

All in all, everything was beginning to change for Hiro.

 

He could feel the loneliness finally dying away. He felt the anger washing away.

 

As the clock struck twelve somewhere at San Fransokyo, February 14th had arrived. Who knew that he would really fall in love with Tadashi by that date? He chuckled at the irony before settling to watch the event.

 

He was sure Tadashi was going to change his grey dull life into something more cheerful and colourful. He never wanted those dull colours again.

 

And he didn’t even realise that he was actually counting down for the day when he would be saved from his self-destructing tendencies.

 

“Counting down to you,” Hiro murmured with humour. Honey just looked at him from the corner of her eyes and raised her eyebrows. Hiro shook his head at her and smiled.

 

He had always been counting down for him.

 

And now that his countdown had run out to zero, there was new countdown with the infinity symbol on it and that would be the start of their adventure. Sure, things would still get rough around the edges but Hiro wasn’t going to give up. He wasn’t going to run away anymore.

 

It was time to let his heart go.

 

It was time to let someone else heal the pain inside.

 

Touching his chest, he smiled to himself.

 

And Tadashi would heal it all just like how Hiro would do it for him.

 

 

**THE END**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: TA-DA~! The end. Ah, nice ending, huh? Pfftt--honestly, I'm not sure if this is a nice ending or not, you guys have to tell me that. What I do know is that I enjoyed writing this story very much. I also thank you guys for the awesome support by kudos, comments, subs and bookmarking. Overall, you guys are just amazeballs! God I sound too hyperactive. :DD
> 
> Anyways, I hope I didn't make things sound too rushed. I hope I did it well. I also hope I didn't make too much grammatical or spelling errors. I also using British English, if anyone is wondering why my English is a tad-, well, yah, not American English. Besides that, I hope you guys had enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. ANNNND, I also got requests from the previous chapter about wanting a Tadashi's POV during the fight and also a...-ahem- smut chapter. Well, I'll try but only if anyone else wants it. :DD 
> 
> Well, that is all for now! Until next time and once again, thank you to all my lovely readers! -Krystal
> 
> EDITED: This AU is now a series~! I'll be starting with Tadashi's POV on this chapter and then continuing from there. There's also a sequel in mind but yeah~ :DD


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